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THE YALE SHAKESPEARE 



Edited by 
Wilbur L. Cross Tucker Brooke 

WlLLARD HlGLEY DURHAM 



Published under the Direction 

OF THE 

Department of English, Yale University, 

on the Fund 

Given to the Yale University Press in 1917 

by the Members of the 

Kingsley Trust Association 

To Commemorate the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary 

of the Founding of the Society 



The Yale Shakespeare 



THE CHRONICLE HISTORY OF 
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF 

KING LEAR 

AND HIS THREE DAUGHTERS 



EDITED BY 

WILLIAM LYON PHELPS 




NEW HAVEN • YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS 

LONDON • HUMPHREY MILFORD 
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS ■ MCMXVII 

/ 






Copyright, 1917 
By Yale University Press 



First published, October, 1917 



NOV 15 1917 



©a A 479138 ta 



V- "■ 



Here Love the slain with Love the slayer lies; 

Deep drowned are both in the same sunless pool. 
Up from its depths that mirror thundering skies 

Bubbles the wan mirth of the mirthless Fool. 

— William Watson 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



The Text 
Notes 

Appendix A. 
Appendix B. 
Appendix C. 
Appendix D. 



Sources of the Play 
History of the Play 
Text of the Present Edition 
Suggestions for Collateral 
Reading 



Index of Words Glossed . 



PAGE 

1 
131 
138 
143 
146 

147 
148 



The facsimile opposite represents the title-page of the 
Elizabethan Club copy of the spurious "i£0£" quarto. 
Though purporting to belong to that year, this edition is 
now known to be an interesting forgery, executed about 
1619. A discussion of the relation between this and the 
genuine 1608 quarto, together with the imprint of the 
latter, will be found on p. 1^3. Of the spurious edition, 
some twenty-eight copies, are known to survive; of the 
genuine, ten. 



M. William Shake-fpeare, 

HIS 

True Chronicle Hiftoiy of the life 

and death of King Lear, and hit 
three Daughters* 

With the vnfortmatelife of E d g a r* 

fonne and heire Co the Earle of Glocefter, and 

htsfuUtn and ajjkmed humour o/T O M 

of Bedlam. 

4$ U Was {laid before the Kings Mate By at White-Hall, *zp* 
fw'3. Stephens night Jn ChriBmasHoHidaies* 

By his MaieftiesSeruants, playing vfualfyattte? 
Globe on the Banc^pdet 




Printed for Nathaniel Gutter* 
l6bg 



[DRAMATIS PERSONS 

Lear, King of Britain 

King of France 

Duke of Burgundy 

Duke of Cornwall 

Duke of Albany 

Earl of Kent 

Earl of Gloucester 

Edgar, Son to Gloucester 

Edmund, Bastard Son to Gloucester 

Curan, a Courtier 

Oswald, Steward to Goneril 

Old Man, Tenant to Gloucester 

Doctor 

Fool 

A Captain, employed by Edmund 

A Gentleman, Attendant on Cordelia 

A Herald 

Servants to Cornwall 

Goneril, j 

Regan, > Daughters to Lear 

Cordelia, J 

Knights of Lear's Train, Officers, Messengers, Sol- 
diers, and Attendants 

Scene: Britain.'] 



King- Lear 



ACT FIRST 

Scene One 

[King Lear's Palace"] 

Enter Kent, Gloucester, and Edmund. 

Kent. I thought the king had more affected 
the Duke of Albany than Cornwall. 

Glo. It did always seem so to us; but now, in 
the division of the kingdom, it appears not 
which of the dukes he values most; for equali- 
ties are so weighed that curiosity in neither can 
make choice of either's moiety. 

Kent. Is not this your son, my lord? 8 

Glo. His breeding, sir, hath been at my 
charge: I have so often blushed to acknowledge 
him, that now I am brazed to it. 

Kent. I cannot conceive you. 12 

Glo. Sir, this young fellow's mother could; 
whereupon she grew round-wombed, and had, 
indeed, sir, a son for her cradle ere she had a 
husband for her bed. Do you smell a fault? 16 

Kent. I cannot wish the fault undone, the 
issue of it being so proper. 

Glo. But I have a son, sir, by order of law, 
some year elder than this, who yet is no dearer 

1 affected: loved 6 curiosity: scrupulous examin at ion 

7 moiety : share 11 brazed: hardened 

18 proper: handsome 20 some year: about a year 



King Lear, I. i 



in my account: though this knave came some- 
what saucily into the world before he was sent 
for, yet was his mother fair; there was good 
sport at his making, and the whoreson must be 
acknowledged. Do you know this noble gentle- 
man, Edmund? 26 

Edm. No, my lord. 

Glo. My Lord of Kent: remember him here- 
after as my honourable friend. 

Edm. My services to your lordship. 

Kent. I must love you, and sue to know you 
better. 32 

Edm. Sir, I shall study deserving. 

Glo. He hath been out nine years, and away 
he shall again. The king is coming. 

Sennet. Enter King Lear, Cornwall, Albany, Goneril, 
Regan, Cordelia, and Attendants. 

Lear. Attend the Lords of France and Burgundy, 
Gloucester. 36 

Glo. I shall, my liege. Exit [with Edmund.'] 

Lear. Meantime we shall express our darker pur- 
pose. 
Give me the map there. Know that we have divided 
In three our kingdom ; and 'tis our fast intent 
To shake all cares and business from our age, 41 

Conferring them on younger strengths, while we 
Unburden'd crawl toward death. Our son of Corn- 
wall, 
And you, our no less loving son of Albany, 44 

We have this hour a constant will to publish 
Our daughters' several dowers, that future strife 

31 sue: beg 33 study deserving: try to be worthy 

34 out: out of the kingdom 35 S. d. Sennet: notes on a trumpet 

38 darker: more secret 40 fast intent : fixed purpose 



King Lear, I, i 3 

May be prevented now. The princes, France and 

Burgundy, 
Great rivals in our youngest daughter's love, 4S 

Long in our court have made their amorous sojourn, 
And here are to be answer'd. Tell me, my daugh- 
ters, — 
Since now we will divest us both of rule, 
Interest of territory, cares of state, — 52 

Which of you shall we say doth love us most? 
That we our largest bounty may extend 
Where nature doth with merit challenge. Goneril, 
Our eldest-born, speak first. 56 

Gon. Sir, I love you more than words can wield 
the matter; 
Dearer than eye-sight, space, and liberty; 
Beyond what can be valu'd, rich or rare; 
No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, 
honour ; 60 

As much as child e'er lov'd, or father found ; 
A love that makes breath poor and speech unable; 
Beyond all manner of so much I love you. 

Cor. [Aside.] What shall Cordelia do? Love, and 
be silent. 64 

Lear. Of all these bounds, even from this line to 
this, 
With shadowy forests and with champains rich'd. 
With plenteous rivers and wide-skirted meads, 
We make thee lady: to thine and Albany's issue 
Be this perpetual. What says our second daughter, 69 
Our dearest Regan, wife to Cornwall? Speak. 

Reg. I am made of that self metal as my sister, 
And prize me at her worth. In my true heart 

47 prevented : forestalled 52 Interest: legal title 55 nature; cf. n. 
58 space: the external world 62 unable: impotent 71 self : same 



4 King Lear, I. i 

I find she names my very deed of love; 73 

Only she comes too short: that I profess 

Myself an enemy to all other joys 

Which the most precious square of sense possesses 76 

And find I am alone felicitate 

In your dear highness' love. 

Cor. [A side. ] Then, poor Cordelia! 

And yet not so ; since, I am sure, my love 's 
More richer than my tongue. 80 

Lear. To thee and thine, hereditary ever, 
Remain this ample third of our fair kingdom, 
No less in space, validity, and pleasure, 
Than that conferr'd on Goneril. Now, our joy, 84 
Although our last, not least; to whose young love 
The vines of France and milk of Burgundy 
Strive to be interess'd; what can you say to draw 
A third more opulent than your sisters? Speak. 

Cor. Nothing, my lord. 89 

Lear. Nothing? . 

Cor. Nothing. 

Lear. Nothing will come of nothing: speak 
again. 92 

Cor. Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave 
My heart into my mouth: I love your majesty 
According to my bond; nor more nor less. 

Lear. How, how, Cordelia! mend your speech a 
little, 96 

Lest you may mar your fortunes. 

Cor. Good my lord, 

You have begot me, bred me, lov'd me: I 
Return those duties back as are right fit, 
Obey you, love you, and most honour you. 100 

76 square; cf. n. 77 felicitate: made happy 

83 validity: value 86 milk: pasture land 

87 interess'd: given a share 95 bond: obligation of duty 



King Lear, I. i 



Why have my sisters husbands, if they say 

They love you all? Haply, when I shall wed, 

That lord whose hand must take my plight shall 

carry 
Half my love with him, half my care and duty: 
Sure I shall never marry like my sisters, 105 

To love my father all. 

Lear. But goes thy heart with this? 

Cor. Ay, good my lord. 

Lear. So young, and so untender? 108 

Cor. So young, my lord, and true. 

Lear. Let it be so; thy truth then be thy dower: 
For, by the sacred radiance of the sun, 
The mysteries of Hecate and the night, 112 

By all the operation of the orbs 
From whom we do exist and cease to be, 
Here I disclaim all my paternal care, 
Propinquity and property of blood, 116 

And as a stranger to my heart and me 
Hold thee from this for ever. The barbarous 

Scythian, 
Or he that makes his generation messes 
To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosom 120 

Be as well neighbour'd, pitied, and reliev'd, 
As thou my sometime daughter. 

Kent. Good my liege, — 

Lear. Peace, Kent! 
Come not between the dragon and his wrath. 124 

I lov'd her most, and thought to set my rest 
On her kind nursery. Hence, and avoid my sight ! 
So be my grave my peace, as here I give 

103 plight: pledge 112 Hecate: goddess of witchcraft 

113 operation: planetary influence 116 property of blood: kinship 

119 generation: children 

125 set my rest: stake my all {figure from a game) 

126 nursery: nursing 



6 King Lear, I. i 

Her father's heart from her! Call France. Who 

stirs ? 128 

Call Burgundy. Cornwall and Albany, 
With my two daughters' dowers digest the third; 
Let pride, which she calls plainness, marry her. 
I do invest you jointly with my power, 132 

Pre-eminence, and all the large effects 
That troop with majesty. Ourself by monthly course, 
With reservation of a hundred knights, 
By you to be sustain'd, shall our abode 136 

Make with you by due turn. Only we shall retain 
The name and all th' addition to a king; 
The sway, revenue, execution of the rest, 
Beloved sons, be yours: which to confirm, 140 

This coronet part between you. 

Kent. Royal Lear, 

Whom I have ever honour'd as my king, 
Lov'd as my father, as my master follow'd, 
As my great patron thought on in my prayers, — 
Lear. The bow is bent and drawn; make from the 

shaft. 145 

Kent. Let it fall rather, though the fork invade 
The region of my heart: be Kent unmannerly 
When Lear is mad. What wouldst thou do, old 

man? 148 

Think'st thou that duty shall have dread to speak 
When power to flattery bows ? To plainness honour's 

bound 
When majesty falls to folly. Reserve thy state; 
And, in thy best consideration, check 152 

This hideous rashness: answer my life my judgment, 

130 digest: assimilate 131 marry: find a husband 

133 effects: outward marks of royalty 

134 troop with: follow in the train of 

138 addition: title, marks of distinction 151 state; cf. n. 



King Lear, J. i 



Thy youngest daughter does not love thee least; 
Nor are those empty-hearted whose low sound 
Reverbs no hollowness. 

Lear. Kent, on thy life, no more. 

Kent. My life I never held but as a pawn 157 

To wage against thine enemies; nor fear to lose it, 
Thy safety being the motive. 

Lear. Out of my sight! 

Kent. See better, Lear ; and let me still remain 160 
The true blank of thine eye. 

Lear. Now, by Apollo, — 

Kent. Now, by Apollo, king, 

Thou swear'st thy gods in vain. 

Lear. O vassal ! miscreant ! 

[Laying his hand on his s word.~\ 

r ' r Dear sir, forbear. 164 

Kent. Do; 
Kill thy physician, and the fee bestow 
Upon the foul disease. Revoke thy gift; 
Or, whilst I can vent clamour from my throat, 
I'll tell thee thou dost evil. 

Lear. Hear me, recreant! 169 

On thine allegiance, hear me ! 

Since thou hast sought to make us break our vow, — 
Which we durst never yet, — and, with strain'd 
pride 172 

To come betwixt our sentence and our power, — 
Which nor our nature nor our place can bear, — 
Our potency made good, take thy reward. 
Five days we do allot thee for provision 176 



156 Reverbs: re-echoes 158 wage: stake 160 still: always 

161 blank: white spot in centre of target 
175 made good: proved by this decree 



8 King Lear, I. i 

To shield thee from diseases of the world; 
And, on the sixth, to turn thy hated back 
Upon our kingdom: if, on the tenth day following 
Thy banish'd trunk be found in our dominions, 
The moment is thy death. Away ! By Jupiter, 
This shall not be revok'd. 182 

Kent. Fare thee well, king; sith thus thou wilt 

appear, 
Freedom lives hence, and banishment is here. 
[To Cordelia.] The gods to their dear shelter take 

thee, maid, 185 

That justly think'st, and hast most rightly said! 
[To Regan and Goneril.] And your large speeches 

may your deeds approve, 
That good effects may spring from words of love. 188 
Thus Kent, O princes ! bids you all adieu ; 
He'll shape his old course in a country new. Exit. 

Flourish. Enter Gloucester with France, and 
Burgundy, Attendants. 

Glo. Here's France and Burgundy, my noble lord. 

Lear. My Lord of Burgundy, 192 

We first address toward you, who with this king 
Hath rivall'd for our daughter. What, in the least, 
Will you require in present dower with her, 
Or cease your quest of love? 

Bur. Most royal majesty, 196 

I crave no more than hath your highness offer'd, 
Nor will you tender less. 

Lear. Right noble Burgundy, 

When she was dear to us we did hold her so, 
But now her price is f all'n. Sir, there she stands : 200 

177 diseases : slight vexation s, dis-eases 183 sith: since 

187 approve: make good 190 course; cf. n. 
S. d. Flourish: music of horns 

194 in the least: at least 198 tender: offer 



King Lear, I. i 9 

If aught within that little-seeming substance, 
Or all of it, with our displeasure piec'd, 
And nothing more, may fitly like your Grace, 
She's there, and she is yours. 

Bur. I know no answer. 204 

Lear. Will you, with those infirmities she owes, 
Unfriended, new-adopted to our hate, 
Dower'd with our curse, and stranger'd with our oath, 
Take her, or leave her? 

Bur. Pardon me, royal sir; 208 

Election makes not up on such conditions. 

Lear. Then leave her, sir; for, by the power that 
made me, 
I tell you all her wealth. — [To France.'] For you, 

great king, 
I would not from your love make such a stray 
To match you where I hate; therefore, beseech 
you 213 

To avert your liking a more worthier way 
Than on a wretch whom nature is asham'd 
Almost to acknowledge hers. 

France. This is most strange, 216 

That she, who even but now was your best object, 
The argument of your praise, balm of your age, 
The best, the dearest, should in this trice of time 
Commit a thing so monstrous, to dismantle 220 

So many folds of favour. Sure, her offence 
Must be of such unnatural degree 
That monsters it, or your fore-vouch'd affection 
Fall into taint; which to believe of her, 224 

Must be a faith that reason without miracle 
Could never plant in me. 

205 owes: owns 209 Election, etc.: / cannot choose 

218 argument: subject 219 trice: moment 

223 monsters: makes monstrous 



io King Lear, I. i 

Cor. I yet beseech your majesty — 

If for I want that glib and oily art 
To speak and purpose not; since what I well 
intend, 228 

I'll do 't before I speak — that you make known 
It is no vicious blot nor other foulness, 
No unchaste action, or dishonour'd step, 
That hath depriv'd me of your grace and favour, 
But even for want of that for which I am richer, 
A still-soliciting eye, and such a tongue 
That I am glad I have not, though not to have it 
Hath lost me in your liking. 

Lear. Better thou 236 

Hadst not been born than not to have pleas'd me 
better. 

France. Is it but this? a tardiness in nature 
Which often leaves the history unspoke 
That it intends to do ? My Lord of Burgundy, 
What say you to the lady? Love is not love 241 

When it is mingled with regards that stand 
Aloof from the entire point. Will you have her? 
She is herself a dowry. 

Bur. Royal Lear, 244 

Give but that portion which yourself propos'd, 
And here I take Cordelia by the hand, 
Duchess of Burgundy. 

Lear. Nothing: I have sworn; I am firm. 248 

Bur. I am sorry, then, you have so lost a father 
That you must lose a husband. 

Cor. Peace be with Burgundy! 

Since that respects of fortune are his love, 
I shall not be his wife. 252 

228 speak and purpose not: speak deceitfully 
251 respects: considerations 



King Lear, I. i n 

France. Fairest Cordelia, that art most rich, being 
poor; 
Most choice, forsaken; and most lov'd, despis'd! 
Thee and thy virtues here I seize upon: 
Be it lawful I take up what's cast away. 256 

Gods, gods ! 'tis strange that from their cold'st neglect 
My love should kindle to inflam'd respect. 
Thy dowerless daughter, king, thrown to my chance, 
Is queen of us, of ours, and our fair France: 260 

Not all the dukes of waterish Burgundy 
Shall buy this unpriz'd precious maid of me. 
Bid them farewell, Cordelia, though unkind: 
Thou losest here, a better where to find. 264 

Lear. Thou hast her, France; let her be thine, 
for we 
Have no such daughter, nor shall ever see 
That face of hers again, therefore be gone 
Without our grace, our love, our benison. 268 

Come, noble Burgundy. 

Flourish. Exeunt [Lear, Burgundy, Cornwall, 
Albany, Gloucester, and Attendants.~\ 

France. Bid farewell to your sisters. 

Cor. The jewels of our father, with wash'd eyes 
Cordelia leaves you: I know you what you are; 272 
And like a sister am most loath to call 
Your faults as they are nam'd. Use well our father: 
To your professed bosoms I commit him: 
But yet, alas ! stood I within his grace, 276 

I would prefer him to a better place. 
So farewell to you both. 

Reg. Prescribe not us our duties. 

262 unpriz'd: invaluable (?) 263 unkind: unnatural 

264 a better where: a better place 268 benison: blessing 

271 wash'd; cf. n. 275 bosoms: affections 



12 King Lear, I. i 

Gon. Let your study 

Be to content your lord, who hath receiv'd you 
At fortune's alms ; you have obedience scanted, 
And well are worth the want that you have wanted. 282 
Cor. Time shall unfold what plighted cunning 

hides ; 
Who covers faults, at last shame them derides. 
Well may you prosper! 

France. Come, my fair Cordelia. 

Exit France and Cordelia. 

Gon. Sister, it is not little I have to say of 
what most nearly appertains to us both. I think 
our father will hence to-night. 288 

Reg. That's most certain, and with you; 
next month with us. 

Gon. You see how full of changes his age is; 
the observation we have made of it hath not 
been little: he always loved our sister most; and 
with what poor judgment he hath now cast her 
off appears too grossly. 

Reg. 'Tis the infirmity of his age; yet he 
hath ever but slenderly known himself. 297 

Gon. The best and soundest of his time hath 
been but rash; then, must we look to receive 
from his age, not alone the imperfections of 
long-engraffed condition, but, therewithal the 
unruly waywardness that infirm and choleric 
years bring with them. 303 

Reg. Such unconstant starts are we like to 
have from him as this of Kent's banishment. 

Gon. There is further compliment of leave- 
taking between France and him. Pray you, let 

282 want; cf. n. 283 plighted: folded 295 grossly: obviously 

298 time: years 301 engrafted condition: implanted temperament 

304 starts: fits of temper 306 compliment of : ceremonious 



King Lear, 7. ii 13 

us hit together: if our father carry authority 
with such dispositions as he bears, this last 
surrender of his will but offend us. 310 

Reg. We shall further think on 't. 

Gon. We must do something, and i' the heat. 

Exeunt. 

Scene Two 

[Earl of Gloucester's Castle] 

Enter Bastard [Edmund, with a letter.] 

Edm. Thou, Nature, art my goddess; to thy law 
My services are bound. Wherefore should I 
Stand in the plague of custom, and permit 
The curiosity of nations to deprive me, 4 

For that I am some twelve or fourteen moonshines 
Lag of a brother? Why bastard? wherefore base? 
When my dimensions are as well compact, 
My mind as generous, and my shape as true, 8 

As honest madam's issue? Why brand they us 
With base? with baseness? bastardy? base, base? 
Who in the lusty stealth of nature take 
More composition and fierce quality 12 

Than doth, within a dull, stale, tired bed, 
Go to the creating a whole tribe of fops, 
Got 'tween asleep and wake? Well then, 
Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land: 16 

Our father's love is to the bastard Edmund 
As to the legitimate. Fine word, legitimate!' 
Well, my legitimate, if this letter speed, 
And my invention thrive, Edmund the base 20 

308 hit: agree 310 offend : harm 3 plague: snare 

4 curiosity: pedantry 6 Lag of: behind 

14 fops: fools 19 speed : succeed 



i* King Lear, J. ii 

Shall top the legitimate: — I grow, I prosper; 
Now, gods, stand up for bastards ! 

Enter Gloucester. 

Glo. Kent banished thus ! And France in choler 

parted ! 
And the king gone to-night ! subscrib'd his power ! 24 
Confin'd to exhibition! All this done 
Upon the gad! Edmund, how now! what news? 
Edm. So please your lordship, none. 

[Putting up the letter.] 

Glo. Why so earnestly seek you to put up 
that letter? 29 

Edm. I know no news, my lord. 

Glo. What paper were you reading? 

Edm. Nothing, my lord. 32 

Glo. No? What needed then that terrible 
dispatch of it into your pocket? the quality of 
nothing hath not such need to hide itself. Let's 
see; come; if it be nothing, I shall not need 
spectacles. 37 

Edm. I beseech you, sir, pardon me; it is a 
letter from my brother that I have not all o'er- 
read, and for so much as I have perused, I find 
it not fit for your o'er-looking. 41 

Glo. Give me the letter, sir. 

Edm. I shall offend, either to detain or give 
it. The contents, as in part I understand them, 
are to blame. 45 

Glo. Let's see, let's see. 

Edm. I hope, for my brother's justification, 
he wrote this but as an essay or taste of my 
virtue. 49 

24 subscrib'd: transferred 25 exhibition: allowance, maintenance 

26 gad: spur 48 essay: trial 



King Lear, I. ii 15 

Glo. "This policy and reverence of age makes 
the world bitter to the best of our times; keeps 
our fortunes from us till our oldness cannot 
relish them. I begin to find an idle and fond 
bondage in the oppression of aged tyranny, who 
sways, not as it hath power, but as it is suffered. 
Come to me, that of this I may speak more. If 
our father would sleep till I waked him, you 
should enjoy half his revenue for ever, and live 
the beloved of your brother, Edgar." — Hum! 
Conspiracy ! 'Sleep till I waked him, you should 
enjoy half his revenue.' — My son Edgar! Had 
he a hand to write this? a heart and brain to 
breed it in? When came this to you? Who 
brought it? 64 

Edm. It was not brought me, my lord; 
there's the cunning of it; I found it thrown in 
at the casement of my closet. 

Glo. You know the character to be your 
brother's ? 69 

Edm. If the matter were good, my lord, I 
durst swear it were his; but, in respect of that, 
I would fain think it were not. 72 

Glo. It is his. 

Edm. It is his hand, my lord; but I hope his 
heart is not in the contents. 

Glo. Hath he never heretofore sounded you 
in this business? 77 

Edm. Never, my lord: but I have often heard 
him maintain it to be fit that, sons at perfect 
age, and fathers declined, the father should be 

50 policy and reverence of: policy of revering 

53 fond: foolish 67 closet: room 

68 character : handwriting 72 fain : gladly 



16 King Lear, I. ii 

as ward to the son, and the son manage his 
revenue. 82 

Glo. O villain, villain! His very opinion in 
the letter ! Abhorred villain ! Unnatural, de- 
tested, brutish villain ! worse than brutish ! Go, 
sirrah, seek him; I'll apprehend him. Abomin- 
able villain! Where is he? 87 

Edm. I do not well know, my lord. If it 
shall please you to suspend your indignation 
against my brother till you can derive from him 
better testimony of his intent, you shall run a 
certain course; where, if you violently proceed 
against him, mistaking his purpose, it would 
make a great gap in your own honour, and shake 
in pieces the heart of his obedience. I dare 
pawn down my life for him, that he hath writ 
this to feel my affection to your honour, and to 
no other pretence of danger. 98 

Glo. Think you so? 

Edm. If your honour judge it meet, I will 
place you where you shall hear us confer of this, 
and by an auricular assurance have your satis- 
faction; and that without any further delay 
than this very evening. 104 

Glo. He cannot be such a monster — 

[Edm. Nor is not, sure. 

Glo. — to his father, that so tenderly and en- 
tirely loves him. Heaven and earth!] Edmund, 
seek him out; wind me into him, I pray you: 
frame the business after your own wisdom. I 
would unstate myself to be in a due resolution. 

84 detested: detestable 98 pretence: intention 

109 wind me into him; cf. n. 

Ill unstate myself: give all I am and have due resolution: proper 

certainty 



King Lear, I. ii 17 

Edm. I will seek him, sir, presently; convey 
the business as I shall find means, and acquaint 
you withal. 114 

Glo. These late eclipses in the sun and moon 
portend no good to us: though the wisdom of 
nature can reason it thus and thus, yet nature 
finds itself scourged by the sequent effects. Love 
cools, friendship falls off, brothers divide: in 
cities, mutinies; in countries, discord; in palaces, 
treason; and the bond cracked between son and 
father. This villain of mine comes under the 
prediction; there's son against father: the king 
falls from bias of nature; there's father against 
child. We have seen the best of our time: 
machinations, hollowness, treachery, and all 
ruinous disorders, follow us disquietly to our 
graves. Find out this villain, Edmund; it shall 
lose thee nothing: do it carefully. And the 
noble and true-hearted Kent banished ! his 
offence, honesty ! 'Tis strange ! Exit. 

Edm. This is the excellent foppery of the 
world, that, when we are sick in fortune, — often 
the surfeit of our own behaviour, — we make 
guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon, and 
the stars; as if we were villains by necessity, 
fools by heavenly compulsion, knaves, thieves, 
and treachers by spherical predominance, 
drunkards, liars, and adulterers by an enforced 
obedience of planetary influence; and all that 
we are evil in, by a divine thrusting on: an 
admirable evasion of whoremaster man, to lay 

112 presently: instantly 114 withal: therewith 

116 wisdom of nature: natural philosophy 

132 excellent foppery: exceeding folly 

138 spherical: planetary 141 thrusting on : impulsion 



King Lear, I, ii 



his goatish disposition to the charge of a star ! 
My father compounded with my mother under 
the dragon's tail, and my nativity was under 
ursa major; so that it follows I am rough 
and lecherous. 'Sfoot! I should have been that 
I am had the maidenliest star in the firmament 
twinkled on my bastardizing. Edgar — 149 

Enter Edgar. 

and pat he comes, like the catastrophe of the 
old comedy: my cue is villainous melancholy, 
with a sigh like Tom o' Bedlam. O, these 
eclipses do portend these divisions ! Fa, sol, 
la, mi. 

Edg. How now, brother Edmund! What 
serious contemplation are you in? 156 

Edm. I am thinking, brother, of a prediction 
I read this other day, what should follow these 
eclipses. 

Edg. Do you busy yourself with that? 160 

Edm. I promise you the effects he writes of 
succeed unhappily; [as of unnaturalness between 
the child and the parent; death, dearth, dissolu- 
tions of ancient amities ; divisions in state ; 
menaces and maledictions against king and 
nobles; needless diffidences, banishment of 
friends, dissipation of cohorts, nuptial breaches, 
and I know not what. 168 

Edg. How long have you been a sectary 
astronomical ? 

Edm. Come, come;] when saw you my father 
last? 172 

145 dragon's tail; cf. n. 147 'Sfoot: God's foot! 

153 Fa;cf.n. 166 diffidences: suspicions 

169 sectary astronomical: member of the astronomical sect 



King Lear, J. ii 19 

Edg. The night gone by. 

Edm. Spake you with him? 

Edg. Ay, two hours together. 

Edm. Parted you in good terms? Found 
you no displeasure in him by word or counte- 
nance ? 

Edg. None at all. 179 

Edm. Bethink yourself wherein you may 
have offended him; and at my entreaty forbear 
his presence till some little time hath qualified 
the heat of his displeasure, which at this instant 
so rageth in him that with the mischief of your 
person it would scarcely allay. 185 

Edg. Some villain hath done me wrong. 

Edm. That's my fear. I pray you have a 
continent forbearance till the speed of his rage 
goes slower, and, as I say, retire with me to my 
lodging, from whence I will fitly bring you to 
hear my lord speak. Pray you, go; there's my 
key. If you do stir abroad, go armed. 192 

Edg. Armed, brother ! 

Edm. Brother, I advise you to the best; go 
armecf; I am no honest man if there be any good 
meaning toward you; I have told you what I 
have seen and heard; but faintly, nothing like 
the image and horror of it ; pray you, away. 

Edg. Shall I hear from you anon? 

Edm. I do serve you in this business. 200 

Exit [Edgar. ,] 
A credulous father, and a brother noble, 
Whose nature is so far from doing harms 
That he suspects none ; on whose foolish honesty 

184 mischief: harm 188 continent: temperate 

198 image and horror: horrible image 



20 King Lear, I. Hi 

My practices ride easy! I see the business. 204 

Let me, if not by birth, have lands by wit: 

All with me 's meet that I can fashion fit. Exit. 

Scene Three 

[Duke of Albany's Palace] 

Enter Goneril, and [Oswald her] Steward. 

Gon. Did my father strike my gentleman for 

chiding of his fool? 
Osw. Ay, madam. 

Gon. By day and night he wrongs me ; every hour 4 
He flashes into one gross crime or other, 
That sets us all at odds: I'll not endure it: 
His knights grow riotous, and himself upbraids us 
On every trifle. When he returns from hunting 
I will not speak with him; say I am sick: 9 

If you come slack of former services, 
You shall do well; the fault of it I'll answer. 

Osw. He's coming, madam; I hear him. 12 

[Horns within.] 

Gon. Put on what weary negligence you please, 
You and your fellows; I'd have it come to question: 
If he distaste it, let him to my sister, 
Whose mind and mine, I know, in that are one, 16 

[Not to be over-rul'd. Idle old man, 
That still would manage those authorities 
That he hath given away! Now, by my life, 
Old fools are babes again, and must be us'd 20 

With checks as flatteries, when they are seen abus'd.] 
Remember what I have said. 

Osw. Well, madam. 

204 practices: treacherous plots 14 question: discussion 

17 Idle : foolish 21 abus'd; cf. n. 22 Well: like French 'bien' 



King Lear, I. iv 21 

Gon. And let his knights have colder looks among 
you; 
What grows of it, no matter; advise your fellows 
so: 24 

1 would breed from hence occasions, and I shall, 
That I may speak: I'll write straight to my sister 
To hold my very course. Prepare for dinner. 

[Exeunt.'] 

Scene Four 

[The same] 

Enter Kent [disguised.] 

Kent. If but as well I other accents borrow, 
That can my speech diffuse, my good intent 
May carry through itself to that full issue 
For which I raz'd my likeness. Now, banish'd 
Kent, 4 

If thou canst serve where thou dost stand condemn'd, 
So may it come, thy master, whom thou lov'st, 
Shall find thee full of labours. 

Horns within. Enter Lear, [Knights,] and 
Attendants. 

Lear. Let me not stay a jot for dinner: go, 
get it ready. [Exit an Attendant.] How now! 
what art thou ? 10 

Kent. A man, sir. 

Lear. What dost thou profess ? What wouldst 
thou with us? 

Kent. I do profess to be no less than I seem; 
to serve him truly that will put me in trust; to 

2 diffuse: disguise 3 carry through : accomplish issue: conclusion 
4 raz'd: erased 12 dost . . . profess: is thy profession 



22 King Lear, I. iv 

love him that is honest; to converse with him 
that is wise, and says little; to fear judgment; to 
fight when I cannot choose; and to eat no fish. 

Lear. What art thou? 19 

Kent. A very honest-hearted fellow, and as 
poor as the king. 

Lear. If thou be as poor for a subject as he 
is for a king, thou art poor enough. What 
wouldst thou? 24 

Kent. Service. 

Lear. Whom wouldst thou serve? 

Kent. You. 

Lear. Dost thou know me, fellow? 28 

Kent. No, sir; but you have that in your 
countenance which I would fain call master. 

Lear. What's that? 

Kent. Authority. 32 

Lear. What services canst thou do? 

Kent. I can keep honest counsel, ride, run, 
mar a curious tale in telling it, and deliver a 
plain message bluntly; that which ordinary men 
are fit for, I am qualified in, and the best of me 
is diligence. 38 

Lear. How old art thou? 

Kent. Not so young, sir, to love a woman for 
singing, nor so old to dote on her for any thing; 
I have years on my back forty-eight. 42 

Lear. Follow me; thou shalt serve me: if I 
like thee no worse after dinner I will not part 
from thee yet. Dinner, ho ! dinner ! Where's 
my knave? my fool? Go you and call my fool 
hither. [Exit an Attendant.] 

Enter Steward [Oswald.] 

18 fish; cf. n. 



King Lear, 7. iv 23 

You, you, sirrah, where's my daughter? 48 

Osw. So please you, — [Exit.] 

Lear. What says the fellow there? Call the 

clotpoll back. [Exit a Knight.] Where's my 

fool, ho ? I think the world's asleep. How now ! 

where's that mongrel? 53 

[Re-enter Knight.] 

Knight. He says, my lord, your daughter is 
not well. 

Lear. Why came not the slave back to me 
when I called him? 57 

Knight. Sir, he answered me in the roundest 
manner, he would not. 

Lear. He would not! 60 

Knight. My lord, I know not what the matter 
is; but, to my judgment, your highness is not 
entertained with that ceremonious affection as 
you were wont; there's a great abatement of 
kindness appears as well in the general de- 
pendants as in the duke himself also and your 
daughter. 

Lear. Ha ! sa}^est thou so ? 68 

Knight. I beseech you, pardon me, my lord, 
if I be mistaken; for my duty cannot be silent 
when I think your highness wronged. 71 

Lear. Thou but rememberest me of mine 
own conception: I have perceived a most faint 
neglect of late; which I have rather blamed as 
mine own jealous curiosity than as a very pre- 
tence and purpose of unkindness: I will look 
further into 't. But where's my fool? I have 
not seen him this two days. 78 

51 clotpoll: blockhead 

75 jealous curiosity: suspicious punctiliousness 



24 King Lear, I. iv 

Knight. Since my young lady's going into 
France, sir, the fool hath much pined him away. 

Lear. No more of that; I have noted it well. 
Go you and tell my daughter I would speak with 
her. [Exit an Attendant.] 

Go you, call hither my fool. [Exit an Attendant.'] 

Enter Steward [Oswald.'] 

O ! you sir, you, come you hither, sir. Who am 
I, sir? 86 

Osw. My lady's father. 

Lear. 'My lady's father!' my lord's knave: 
you whoreson dog ! you slave ! you cur ! 89 

Osw. I am none of these, my lord; I beseech 
your pardon. 

Lear. Do you bandy looks with me, you 
rascal? [Striking him.] 

Osw. I'll not be. struck, my lord. 94 

Kent. Nor tripped neither, you base football 
player. [Tripping up his heels.] 

Lear. I thank thee, fellow; thou servest me, 
and I'll love thee. 98 

Kent. Come, sir, arise, away! I'll teach you 
differences : away, away ! If you will measure 
your lubber's length again, tarry; but away! 
Go to! have you wisdom? so. 

[Pushes Oswald out.] 

Lear. Now, my friendly knave, I thank thee: 
there's earnest of thy service. 104 

[Gives Kent money.] 

Enter Fool. 

92 bandy: an expression from the game of tennis 95 football; cf. n. 

100 differences: disagreements, quibbles 104 earnest: advance wages 



King Lear, I. iv 25 

Fool. Let me hire him too: here's my cox- 
comb. 

Lear. How now, my pretty knave ! how dost 
thou ? 108 

Fool. Sirrah, you were best take my coxcomb. 

Kent. Why, fool? 

Fool. Why? for taking one's part that's out 
of favour. Nay, an thou canst not smile as the 
winds sits, thou'lt catch cold shortly: there, take 
my coxcomb. Why, this fellow has banished 
two on 's daughters, and did the third a blessing 
against his will: if thou follow him thou must 
needs wear my coxcomb. How now, nuncle! 
Would I had two coxcombs and two daughters ! 

Lear. Why, my boy? 119 

Fool. If I gave them all my living, I'd keep 
my coxcombs myself. There's mine; beg an- 
other of thy daughters. 

Lear. Take heed, sirrah; the whip. 123 

Fool. Truth's a dog must to kennel; he must 
be whipped out when Lady the brach may stand 
by the fire and stink. 

Lear. A pestilent gall to me! 

Fool. Sirrah, I'll teach thee a speech. 128 

Lear. Do. 

Fool. Mark it, nuncle: — 

Have more than thou showest, 132 

Speak less than thou knowest, 

Lend less than thou owest, 

Ride more than thou goest, 

Learn more than thou trowest, 136 

105 coxcomb: fool's cap 112 an: if 115 on 's: of his 

117 nuncle: mine uncle 125 brach: hunting-bitch 

127 gall; cf. n. 135 goest: walkest 136 trowest: knowest; cf. n. 



2 $ King Lear, I. iv 

Set less than thou throwest; 
Leave thy drink and thy whore, 
And keep in-a-door, 

And thou shalt have more 140 

Than two tens to a score. 
Kent. This is nothing, fool. 
Fool. Then 'tis like the breath of an unfee'd 
lawyer, you gave me nothing for 't. Can you 
make no use of nothing, nuncle? 145 

Lear. Why, no, boy; nothing can be made 
out of nothing. 

Fool. [To Kent.] Prithee, tell him, so much 
the rent of his land comes to: he will not be- 
lieve a fool. 150 
Lear. A bitter fool ! 

Fool. Dost thou know the difference, my boy, 
between a bitter fool and a sweet fool? 153 

Lear. No, lad; teach me. 
Fool. [That lord that counsell'd thee 

To give away thy land, 156 

Come place him here by me, 

Do thou for him stand: 
The sweet and bitter fool 

Will presently appear; 160 

The one in motley here, 
The other found out there. 
Lear. Dost thou call me fool, boy? 
Fool. All thy other titles thou hast given 
away; that thou wast born with. 165 

Kent. This is not altogether fool, my lord. 
Fool. No, faith, lords and great men will not 
let me; if I had a monopoly out, they would 

137 Set . . . throwest: stake less than you throw to win 
168 monopoly out; cf. n. 






King Lear, I. iv 27 

have part on 't, and ladies too: they will not let 
me have all fool to myself; they'll be snatching.] 
Nuncle, give me an egg, and I'll give thee two 
crowns. 172 

Lear. What two crowns shall they be? 
Fool. Why, after I have cut the egg i' the 
middle and eat up the meat, the two crowns of 
the egg. When thou clovest thy crown i' the 
middle, and gavest away both parts, thou borest 
thine ass on thy back o'er the dirt: thou hadst 
little wit in thy bald crown when thou gavest 
thy golden one away. If I speak like myself in 
this, let him be whipped that first finds it so. 181 
Fools had ne'er less grace in a year; 

For wise men are grown foppish, 
And know not how their wits to wear, 184 

Their manners are so apish. 
Lear. When were you wont to be so full of 
songs, sirrah? 187 

Fool. I have used it, nuncle, ever since thou 
madest thy daughters thy mothers; for when 
thou gavest them the rod and puttest down 
thine own breeches, 

Then they for sudden joy did weep, 192 

And I for sorrow sung, 
That such a king should play bo-peep, 

And go the fools among. 195 

Prithee, nuncle, keep a schoolmaster that can 
teach thy fool to lie: I would fain learn to lie. 

Lear. An you lie, sirrah, we'll have you 
whipped. 199 

Fool. I marvel what kin thou and thy 
daughters are: they'll have me whipped for 
speaking true, thou'lt have me whipped for 



28 King Lear, I. iv 

lying; and sometimes I am whipped for holding 
my peace. I had rather be any kind o' thing 
than a fool; and yet I would not be thee, 
nuncle; thou hast pared thy wit o' both sides, 
and left nothing i' the middle: here comes one o' 
the parings. 208 

Enter Goneril. 

Lear. How now, daughter! what makes that 
frontlet on? Methinks you are too much of 
late i' the frown. 211 

Fool. Thou wast a pretty fellow when thou 
hadst no need to care for her frowning; now 
thou art an O without a figure. I am better 
than thou art now; I am a fool, thou art 
nothing. [To Goneril.] Yes, forsooth, I will 
hold my tongue; so your face bids me, though 
you say nothing. 
Mum, mum; 

He that keeps nor crust nor crumb, 220 

Weary of all, shall want some. 
That's a shealed peascod. [Pointing to Lear."] 

Gon. Not only, sir, this your all-licens'd fool, 
But other of your insolent retinue 224 

Do hourly carp and quarrel, breaking forth 
In rank and not-to-be-endured riots. Sir, 
I had thought, by making this well known unto you, 
To have found a safe redress; but now grow 
fearful, 228 

By what yourself too late have spoke and done, 
That you protect this course, and put it on 

210 frontlet: forehead-band, i.e., frown 

214 an O without a figure: a mere cipher 

222 shealed peascod : empty peapod 

230 protect: authorize put ... on: encourage 



King Lear, I. iv 29 

By your allowance; which if you should, the fault 
Would not 'scape censure, nor the redresses sleep, 232 
Which, in the tender of a wholesome weal, 
Might in their working do you that offence, 
Which else were shame, that then necessity 
Will call discreet proceeding. 236 

Fool. For you trow, nuncle, 

The hedge-sparrow fed the cuckoo so long, 
That it had it head bit off by it young. 
So out went the candle, and we were left darkling. 240 
Lear. Are you our daughter? 

Gon. I would you would make use of your good 
wisdom, 
Whereof I know you are fraught; and put away 
These dispositions which of late transform you 
From what you rightly are. 245 

Fool. May not an ass know when the cart 
draws the horse? Whoop, Jug! I love thee. 
Lear. Does any here know me? This is not 
Lear: 248 

Does Lear walk thus? speak thus? Where are his 

eyes? 
Either his notion weakens, his discernings 
Are lethargied. Ha! waking? 'tis not so. 
Who is it that can tell me who I am? 252 

Fool. Lear's shadow. 

[Lear. I would learn that; for, by the marks 
of sovereignty, knowledge and reason, I should 
be false persuaded I had daughters. 256 

Fool. Which they will make an obedient 
father.] 
Lear. Your name, fair gentlewoman? 

231 allowance: approval 233 tender: care weal: commonwealth 

239 it: its 240 darkling: in the dark 243 fraught: stored 

247 Jug; cf. n. 250 notion: understanding 257 Which they: who 



30 King Lear, I. iv 

Gon. This admiration, sir, is much o' the favour 260 
Of other your new pranks. I do beseech you 
To understand my purposes aright: 
As you are old and reverend, should be wise. 
Here do you keep a hundred knights and squires ; 264 
Men so disorder'd, so debosh'd, and bold, 
That this our court, infected with their manners, 
Shows like a riotous inn: epicurism and lust 
Make it more like a tavern or a brothel 268 

Than a grac'd palace. The shame itself doth speak 
For instant remedy; be then desir'd, 
By her that else will take the thing she begs, 
A little to disquantity your train; 272 

And the remainder, that shall still depend, 
To be such men as may besort your age, 
Which know themselves and you. 

Lear. Darkness and devils ! 

Saddle my horses ; call my train together. 276 

Degenerate bastard! I'll not trouble thee: 
Yet have I left a daughter. 

Gon. You strike my people, and your disorder'd 
rabble 
Make servants of their betters. 280 

Enter Albany. 

Lear. Woe, that too late repents ; 

[To Albany.] O! sir, are you come? 
Is it your will? Speak, sir. Prepare my horses. 
Ingratitude, thou marble-hearted fiend, 
More hideous, when thou show'st thee in a child, 
Than the sea-monster. 

260 admiration: sign of wonder 

265 disorder'd: disorderly debosh'd: debauched 

272 disquantity : reduce 

27 Z depend: remain dependants 27 A besort: befit 



King Lear, I. iv 31 

Alb. Pray, sir, be patient. 285 

Lear. [To Goneril."] Detested kite! thou liest: 
My train are men of choice and rarest parts, 
That all particulars of duty know, 288 

And in the most exact regard support 
The worships of their name. O most small fault, 
How ugly didst thou in Cordelia show ! 
Which, like an engine, wrench'd my frame of 
nature 292 

From the fix'd place, drew from my heart all love, 
And added to the gall. O Lear, Lear, Lear ! 
Beat at this gate, that let thy folly in, 295 

[Striking his head.~\ 
And thy dear judgment out! Go, go, my people. 

Alb. My lord, I am guiltless, as I am ignorant 
Of what hath mov'd you. 

Lear. It may be so, my lord. 

Hear, Nature, hear ! dear goddess, hear ! 
Suspend thy purpose, if thou didst intend 300 

To make this creature fruitful ! 
Into her womb convey sterility ! 
Dry up in her the organs of increase, 
And from her derogate body never spring 304 

A babe to honour her! If she must teem, 
Create her child of spleen, that it may live 
And be a thwart disnatur'd torment to her ! 
Let it stamp wrinkles in her brow of youth, 308 

With cadent tears fret channels in her cheeks, 
Turn all her mother's pains and benefits 
To laughter and contempt, that she may feel 
How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is 312 

To have a thankless child! Away, away! Exit. 

290 worships: dignity 292 engine: the rack 304 derogate: degraded 
307 thwart: perverted disnatur'd: unnatural 309 cadent: fall ing 



32 King Lear, I. iv 

Alb. Now, gods that we adore, whereof comes this? 

Gon. Never afflict yourself to know the cause; 
But let his disposition have that scope 316 

That dotage gives it. 

Enter Lear. 

Lear. What! fifty of my followers at a clap, 
Within a fortnight? 

Alb. What's the matter, sir? 

Lear. I'll tell thee. [To Goneril.] Life and death! 

I am asham'd 320 

That thou hast power to shake my manhood thus, 

That these hot tears, which break from me perforce, 

Should make thee worth them. Blasts and fogs upon 

thee! 
Th' untented woundings of a father's curse 324 

Pierce every sense about thee ! Old fond eyes, 
Beweep this cause again, I'll pluck ye out, 
And cast you, with the waters that you lose, 
To temper clay. Yea, is it come to this? 328 

Let it be so: I have another daughter, 
Who, I am sure, is kind and comfortable: 
When she shall hear this of thee, with her nails 
She'll flay thy wolvish visage. Thou shalt find 
That I'll resume the shape which thou dost think 333 
I have cast off for ever; thou shalt, I warrant thee. 
[Exeunt Lear, Kent, and Attendants.] 

Gon. Do you mark that? 

Alb. I cannot be so partial, Goneril, 336 

To the great love I bear you, — 

Gon. Pray you, content. What, Oswald, ho! 
[To the Fool.] You, sir, more knave than fool, after 
your master. 

324 untented: unsearchable 326 Beweep: if you weep for 

328 temper: soften 330 comfortable: comforting 






King Lear, I. iv 33 

Fool. Nuncle Lear, nuncle Lear! tarry, and 
take the fool with thee. 341 

A fox, when one has caught her, 
And such a daughter, 

Should sure to the slaughter, 344 

If my cap would buy a halter; 
So the fool follows after. Exit. 

Gon. This man hath had good counsel. A hundred 
knights ! 
'Tis politic and safe to let him keep 348 

At point a hundred knights ; yes, that on every dream, 
Each buzz, each fancy, each complaint, dislike, 
He may enguard his dotage with their powers, 
And hold our lives in mercy. Oswald, I say ! 352 

Alb. Well, you may fear too far. 
Gon. Safer than trust too far. 

Let me still take away the harms I fear, 
Not fear still to be taken : I know his heart. 
What he hath utter'd I have writ my sister; 356 

If she sustain him and his hundred knights, 
When I have show'd the unfitness, — 

Enter Oswald. 

How now, Oswald! 
What ! have you writ that letter to my sister ? 

Osw. Ay, madam. 360 

Gon. Take you some company, and away to horse; 
Inform her full of my particular fear; 
And thereto add such reasons of your own 
As may compact it more. Get you gone, 364 

And hasten your return. [Exit Oswald.] No, no, my 

lord, 
This milky gentleness and course of yours 

349 At point: in readiness 364 compact: strengthen 

366 gentleness and course: gentleness of your course 



34 King Lear, 7. v 

Though I condemn not, yet, under pardon, 

You are much more attask'd for want of wisdom 368 

Than prais'd for harmful mildness. 

Alb. How far your eyes may pierce I cannot tell: 

Striving to better, oft we mar what's well. 

Gon. Nay, then — 372 

Alb. Well, well; the event. Exeunt. 

Scene Five 

[Near Albany's Palace] 

Enter Lear, Kent, and Fool. 

Lear. Go you before to Gloucester with these 
letters. Acquaint my daughter no further with 
any thing you know than comes from her 
demand out of the letter. If your diligence be 
not speedy I shall be there before you. 5 

Kent. I will not sleep, my lord, till I have 
delivered your letter. Exit. 

Fool. If a man's brains were in 's heels, were 't 
not in danger of kibes ? 9 

Lear. Ay, boy. 

Fool. Then, I prithee, be merry; thy wit shall 
not go slip-shod. 12 

Lear. Ha, ha, ha ! 

Fool. Shalt see thy other daughter will use 
thee kindly; for though she's as like this as a 
crab is like an apple, yet I can tell what I can 
tell. 17 

Lear. What canst tell, boy? 

368 attask'd: blamed 373 the event: the outcome {will show) 

9 kibes: chilblains 

15 kindly: pun, with double meaning of 'gently' and 'naturally' 

16 crab: crabapple 



King Lear, I.v 35 

Fool. She will taste as like this as a crab does 
to a crab. Thou canst tell why one's nose 
stands i' the middle on's face? 21 

Lear. No. 

Fool. Why, to keep one's eyes of either side's 
nose, that what a man cannot smell out, he 
may spy into. 25 

Lear. I did her wrong, — 

Fool. Canst tell how an oyster makes his 
shell ? 28 

Lear. No. 

Fool. Nor I neither; but I can tell why a 
snail has a house. 

Lear. Why? 32 

Fool. Why, to put his head in; not to give 
it away to his daughters, and leave his horns 
without a case. 

Lear. I will forget my nature. So kind a 
father ! Be my horses ready ? 37 

Fool. Thy asses are gone about 'em. The 
reason why the seven stars are no more than 
seven is a pretty reason. 40 

Lear. Because they are not eight? 

Fool. Yes, indeed: thou wouldst make a good 
fool. 

Lear. To take it again perforce ! Monster in- 
gratitude ! 45 

Fool. If thou wert my fool, nuncle, I'd have 
thee beaten for being old before thy time. 

Lear. How's that? 48 

Fool. Thou shouldst not have been old before 
thou hadst been wise. 



36 King Lear, II. i 

Lear. O ! let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven ; 
Keep me in temper ; I would not be mad ! 52 

[Enter Gentleman.] 

How now! Are the horses ready? 
Gent. Ready, my lord. 
Lear. Come, boy. 

Fool. She that's a maid now, and laughs at my 

departure, 56 

Shall not be a maid long, unless things be cut shorter. 

Exeunt. 

ACT SECOND 

Scene One 

[Earl of Gloucester's Castle] 

Enter Bastard [Edmund] and Curan, severally. 

Edm. Save thee,.- Curan. 

Cur. And you, sir. I have been with your 
father, and given him notice that the Duke of 
Cornwall and Regan his duchess will be here 
with him to-night. 5 

Edm. How comes that? 

Cur. Nay, I know not. You have heard of 
the news abroad? I mean the whispered ones, 
for they are yet but ear-kissing arguments? 9 

Edm. Not I: pray you, what are they? 

Cur. Have you heard of no likely wars toward, 
'twixt the Dukes of Cornwall and Albany ? 12 

Edm. Not a word. 

Cur. You may do then, in time. Fare you 
well, sir. Exit. 

52 temper: ment al sanity 11 toward: in prospect 



King Lear, II. i 37 

Edm. The duke be here to-night! The better! 
best ! 16 

This weaves itself perforce into my business. 
My father hath set guard to take my brother; 
And I have one thing, of a queasy question, 
Which I must act. Briefness and fortune, work ! 
Brother, a word; descend: brother, I say! 21 

Enter Edgar. 

My father watches : O sir ! fly this place ; 
Intelligence is given where you are hid; 
You have now the good advantage of the night. 24 

Have you not spoken 'gainst the Duke of Cornwall ? 
He's coming hither, now, i' the night, i' the haste, 
And Regan with him; have you nothing said 
Upon his party 'gainst the Duke of Albany? 28 

Advise yourself. 

Edg. I am sure on 't, not a word. 

Edm. I hear my father coming; pardon me; 
In cunning I must draw my sword upon you; 
Draw; seem to defend yourself ; now 'quit you well. 32 
Yield ; — come before my father. Light, ho ! here ! 
Fly, brother. Torches ! torches ! So, farewell. 

Exit Edgar. 
Some blood drawn on me would beget opinion 

[Wounds his arm.] 
Of my more fierce endeavour: I have seen drunkards 
Do more than this in sport. Father ! father ! 
Stop, stop. No help? 

Enter Gloucester, and Servants with Torches. 

Glo. Now, Edmund, where's the villain? 
Edm. Here stood he in the dark, his sharp sword 
out, 40 

19 queasy question: hazardous trial 28 party: side 



38 King Lear, II. i 

Mumbling of wicked charms, conjuring the moon 
To stand auspicious mistress. 

Glo. But where is he? 

Edm. Look, sir, I bleed. 

Glo. Where is the villain, Edmund? 

Edm. Fled this way, sir. When by no means he 
could — 44 

Glo. Pursue him, ho! Go after. [Exeunt some 
Servants.] 'By no means' what? 

Edm. Persuade me to the murder of your lordship ; 
But that I told him, the revenging gods 
'Gainst parricides did all their thunders bend; 
Spoke with how manifold and strong a bond 49 

The child was bound to the father ; sir, in fine, 
Seeing how loathly opposite I stood 
To his unnatural purpose, in fell motion, 52 

With his prepared sword he charges home 
My unprovided body, lanc'd mine arm: 
But when he saw my best alarum'd spirits 
Bold in the quarrel's right, rous'd to the encounter, 56 
Or whether gasted by the noise I made, 
Full suddenly he fled. 

Glo. Let him fly far: 

Not in this land shall he remain uncaught; 
And found — dispatch. The noble duke my master, 60 
My worthy arch and patron, comes to-night: 
By his authority I will proclaim it, 
That he which finds him shall deserve our thanks, 
Bringing the murderous coward to the stake; 64 

He that conceals him, death. 

Edm. When I dissuaded him from his intent, 
And found him pight to do it, with curst speech 

52 in fell motion: with fierce skill 57 gasted : scared 

61 arch: chief 67 pight: fixed curst: sharp 



King Lear, II. i 39 

I threaten'd to discover him: he replied, 68 

'Thou unpossessing bastard ! dost thou think, 
If I would stand against thee, would the reposal 
Of any trust, virtue, or worth, in thee 
Make thy words faith'd? No: what I should 
deny, — 72 

As this I would; ay, though thou didst produce 
My very character, — I'd turn it all 
To thy suggestion, plot, and damned practice: 
And thou must make a dullard of the world, 76 

If they not thought the profits of my death 
Were very pregnant and potential spurs 
To make thee seek it.' 

Glo. Strong and fasten'd villain ! 

Would he deny his letter? I never got him. 80 

Tucket within. 
Hark! the duke's trumpets. I know not why he 

comes. 
All ports I'll bar; the villain shall not 'scape; 
The duke must grant me that: besides, his picture 
I will send far and near, that all the kingdom 84 

May have due note of him; and of my land, 
Loyal and natural boy, I'll work the means 
To make thee capable. 

Enter Cornwall, Regan, and Attendants. 

Corn. How now, my noble friend ! since I came 

hither, — 88 

Which I can call but now, — I have heard strange 
news. 

68 discover: expose 69 unpossessing: incapable of inheriting 

72 faith'd: credited 

75 suggestion: evil prompting damned practice : damnable trickery 

78 pregnant: inciting 

80 S. d. Tucket: trumpet-notes, indicating march-signal 

82 ports: gates 86 natural: real, my own 87 capable: legal heir 



40 King Lear, II. i 

Reg. If it be true, all vengeance comes too short 
Which can pursue the offender. How dost, my lord? 

Glo. O ! madam, my old heart is crack' d, it's 
crack'd. 92 

Reg. What ! did my father's godson seek your life ? 
He whom my father nam'd? your Edgar? 

Glo. O ! lady, lady, shame would have it hid. 

Reg. Was he not companion with the riotous 
knights 96 

That tend upon my father? 

Glo. I know not, madam ; 'tis too bad, too bad. 

Edm. Yes, madam, he was of that consort. 

Reg. No marvel then though he were ill 
affected; 100 

'Tis they have put him on the old man's death, 
To have the expense and waste of his revenues. 
I have this present evening from my sister 
Been well-inform'd of them, and with such 
cautions 104 

That if they come to sojourn at my house, 
I'll not be there. 

Corn. Nor I, assure thee, Regan. 

Edmund, I hear that you have shown your father 
A child-like office. 

Edm. 'Twas my duty, sir. 108 

Glo. He did bewray his practice; and receiv'd 
This hurt you see, striving to apprehend him. 

Corn. Is he pursu'd? 

Glo. Ay, my good lord. 

Corn. If he be taken he shall never more 112 

Be fear'd of doing harm; make your own purpose, 
How in my strength you please. For you, Edmund, 

102 expense and waste: wasteful spending 

108 childlike: filial 109 bewray: betray 113 of doing: lest he do 



King Lear, II. ii 41 

Whose virtue and obedience doth this instant 
So much commend itself, you shall be ours : 116 

Natures of such deep trust we shall much need; 
You we first seize on. 

Edm. I shall serve you, sir, 

Truly, however else. 

Glo. For him I thank your Grace. 

Corn. You know not why we came to visit 
you, — 120 

Reg. Thus out of season, threading dark-ey'd 
night : 
Occasions, noble Gloucester, of some prize, 
Wherein we must have use of your advice. 
Our father he hath writ, so hath our sister, 124 

Of differences, which I best thought it fit 
To answer from our home; the several messengers 
From hence attend dispatch. Our good old friend, 
Lay comforts to your bosom, and bestow 128 

Your needful counsel to our businesses, 
Which craves the instant use. 

Glo. I serve you, madam. 

Your Graces are right welcome. Exeunt. Flourish. 

Scene Two 

[Before Gloucester's Castle~\ 

Enter Kent and Steward [Oswald'] severally. 

Osw. Good dawning to thee, friend: art of 
this house? 
Kent. Ay. 

Osw. Where may we set our horses? 4 

Kent. V the mire. 

122 prize: advantage 126 f rom : away from 



42 King Lear, II. ii 

Osw. Prithee, if thou lovest me, tell me. 

Kent. I love thee not. 

Osw. Why, then I care not for thee. 8 

Kent. If I had thee in Lipsbury pinfold, I 
would make thee care for me. 

Osw. Why dost thou use me thus? I know 
thee not. 12 

Kent. Fellow, I know thee. 

Osw. What dost thou know me for ? 

Kent. A knave, a rascal, an eater of broken 
meats ; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three- 
suited, hundred-pound, filthy, worsted-stocking 
knave; a lily-liver'd, action-taking knave; a 
whoreson, glass-gazing, superserviceable, finical 
rogue; one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that 
wouldst be a bawd, in way of good service, 
and art nothing but the composition of a 
knave, beggar, coward, pandar, and the son 
and heir of a mongrel bitch: one whom I will 
beat into clamorous whining if thou deniest 
the least syllable of thy addition. 26 

Osw. Why, what a monstrous fellow art 
thou, thus to rail on one that is neither known 
of thee nor knows thee ! 29 

Kent. What a brazen-faced varlet art thou, 
to deny thou knowest me ! Is it two days since 
I tripped up thy heels and beat thee before 
the king? Draw, you rogue; for, though it be 
night, yet the moon shines: I'll make a sop o' 
the moonshine of you. [Drawing his sword.~\ 

9 Lipsbury pinfold; cf. n. 15 broken meats: scraps 

16 three-suited; cf. n. 18 action-taking: given to lawsuits 

19 glass-gazing: fond of the mirror superserviceable: officious 

20 one-trunk-inheriting: owning only one trunk 

34 sop o' the moonshine: make moonlight shine through him 



King Lear, II. ii 



Draw, you whoreson, cullionly barber-monger, 
draw. 37 

Osw. Away! I have nothing to do with thee. 

Kent. Draw, you rascal; you come with let- 
ters against the king, and take vanity the pup- 
pet's part against the royalty of her father. 
Draw, you rogue, or I'll so carbonado your 
shanks: draw, you rascal; come your ways. 

Osw. Help, ho! murder! help! 44 

Kent. Strike, you slave; stand, rogue, stand; 
you neat slave, strike. [Beating him.] 

Osw. Help, oh ! murder ! murder ! 

Enter Bastard [Edmund], Cornwall, Regan, 
Gloucester, [and] Servants. 

Edm. How now! What's the matter? 48 

Kent. With you, goodman boy, if you please: come, 
I'll flesh ye; come on, young master. 

Glo. Weapons ! arms ! What's the matter here ? 

Corn. Keep peace, upon your lives: 52 

He dies that strikes again. What is the matter? 

Reg. The messengers from our sister and the king. 

Corn. What is your difference? speak. 

Osw. I am scarce in breath, my lord. 56 

Kent. No marvel, you have so bestirred your 

valour. You cowardly rascal, nature disclaims 

in thee: a tailor made thee. 

Corn. Thou art a strange fellow; a tailor 

make a man? 61 

Kent. Ay, a tailor, sir: a stone-cutter or a 

36 cullionly: knavish barber-monger: patron of the barber's shop 

40 vanity the puppet's: Vanity, a personified character in the Morality 

plays 
42 carbonado: slice 46 neat : mere, very 

49 goodman: a plebeian form of address 58 disclaims: claims no share 



44 King Lear, II. ii 

painter could not have made him so ill, though 
they had been but two hours o' the trade. 64 

Corn. Speak yet, how grew your quarrel? 
Osw. This ancient ruffian, sir, whose life I 
have spar'd at suit of his grey beard, — 67 

Kent. Thou whoreson zed ! thou unnecessary 
letter ! My lord, if you will give me leave, I will 
tread this unbolted villain into mortar, and 
daub the wall of a jakes with him. Spare my 
grey beard, you wagtail? 72 

Corn. Peace, sirrah ! 

You beastly knave, know you no reverence? 
Kent. Yes, sir; but anger hath a privilege. 
Corn. Why art thou angry ? 76 

Kent. That such a slave as this should wear a 
sword, 

Who wears no honesty. Such smiling rogues as these, 

Like rats, oft bite the holy cords a-twain 

Which are too intrinse t' unloose; smooth every 
passion 80 

That in the natures of their lords rebel; 

Bring oil to fire, snow to their colder moods; 

Renege, affirm, and turn their halcyon beaks 

With every gale and vary of their masters, 84 

Knowing nought, like dogs, but following. 

A plague upon your epileptic visage! 

Smile you my speeches, as I were a fool? 

Goose, if I had you upon Sarum plain, 88 

I'd drive ye cackling home to Camelot. 
Corn. What! art thou mad, old fellow? 
Glo. How fell you out? say that. 

68 zed; cf. n. 70 unbolted: unrefined 71 a jakes: a privy 

79, 80 holy cords . . . too intrinse; cf. n. 

83 Renege: deny halcyon; cf. n. 

84 gale: breeze vary : variation 

88 Sarum: Salisbury 89 Camelot; cf. n. 



King Lear, II. ii 45 

Kent. No contraries hold more antipathy 92 

Than I and such a knave. 

Corn. Why dost thou call him knave? What is 

his fault? 
Kent. His countenance likes me not. 

Corn. No more, perchance, does mine, nor 
his, nor hers. 97 

Kent. Sir, 'tis my occupation to be plain: 
I have seen better faces in my time 
Than stands on any shoulder that I see 100 

Before me at this instant. 

Corn. This is some fellow, 

Who, having been prais'd for bluntness, doth affect 
A saucy roughness, and constrains the garb 
Quite from his nature: he cannot flatter, he, 104 

An honest mind and plain, he must speak truth: 
An they will take it, so ; if not, he's plain. 
These kind of knaves I know, which in this plainness 
Harbour more craft and more corrupter ends 
Than twenty silly-ducking observants, 109 

That stretch their duties nicely. 

Kent. Sir, in good sooth, in sincere verity, 
Under the allowance of your grand aspect, 112 

Whose influence, like the wreath of radiant fire 
On flickering Phoebus' front, — 

Corn. What mean'st by this? 

Kent. To go out of my dialect, which you 
discommend so much. I know, sir, I am no 
flatterer: he that beguiled you in a plain accent 
was a plain knave; which for my part I will not 
be, though I should win your displeasure to en- 
treat me to 't. 120 

103 constrains the garb: forces the fashion 

104 from: contrary to 109 observants: courtiers 111 sooth: truth 



46 King Lear, II. ii 

Corn. What was the offence you gave him? 

Osw. I never gave him any: 
It pleas'd the king his master very late 
To strike at me, upon his misconstruction; 124 

When he, conjunct, and flattering his displeasure, 
Tripp'd me behind; being down, insulted, rail'd, 
And put upon him such a deal of man, 
That worthied him, got praises of the king 128 

For him attempting who was self-subdu'd; 
And, in the fleshment of this dread exploit, 
Drew on me here again. 

Kent. None of these rogues and cowards 

But Ajax is their fool. 

Corn. Fetch forth the stocks ! 132 

You stubborn ancient knave, you reverend braggart, 
We'll teach you. 

Kent. Sir, I am too old to learn. 

Call not your stocks for me; I serve the king, 
On whose employment I was sent to you; 136 

You shall do small respect, show too bold malice 
Against the grace and person of my master, 
Stocking his messenger. 

Corn. Fetch forth the stocks ! As I have life and 
honour, 140 

There shall he sit till noon. 

Reg. Till noon ! Till night, my lord ; and all night 
too. 

Kent. Why, madam, if I were your father's dog, 
You should not use me so. 

Reg. Sir, being his knave, I will. 144 

Corn. This is a fellow of the self-same colour 
Our sister speaks of. Come, bring away the stocks. 

125 conjunct: in league 128 worthied: covered with dignity 

130 fleshment: first taste 132 Ajax; cf. n. 146 away: hither; cf. n. 



King Lear, II. ii 47 

Stocks brought out. 
Glo. Let me beseech your Grace not to do so. 
["His fault is much, and the good king his master 148 
Will check him for 't: your purpos'd low correction 
Is such as basest and contemned'st wretches 
For pilferings and most common trespasses 
Are punish'd with:] the king must take it ill, 152 

That he, so slightly valu'd in his messenger, 
Should have him thus restrain'd. 

Corn. I'll answer that. 

Reg. My sister may receive it much more worse 
To have her gentleman abus'd, assaulted, 156 

For following her affairs. Put in his legs. 

[Kent is put in the stocks.'] 
Come, my good lord, away. 

[Exeunt all but Gloucester and Kent.] 
Glo. I am sorry for thee, friend; 'tis the duke's 
pleasure, 
Whose disposition, all the world well knows, 160 

Will not be rubb'd nor stopp'd: I'll entreat for thee. 
Kent. Pray, do not, sir. I have watch'd and 
travell'd hard; 
Some time I shall sleep out, the rest I'll whistle. 
A good man's fortune may grow out at heels : 164 

Give you good morrow! 

Glo. The duke's to blame in this ; 'twill be ill taken. 

Exit. 
Kent. Good king, that must approve the common 
saw, 
Thou out of heaven's benediction com'st 168 

To the warm sun. 

Approach, thou beacon to this under globe, 
That by thy comfortable beams I may 

149 check : reprimand 167 approve: illustrate 169 sun; cf. n. 



48 King Lear, II. Hi 

Peruse this letter. Nothing almost sees miracles 
But misery: I know 'tis from Cordelia, 173 

Who hath most fortunately been inform'd 
Of my obscured course; and shall find time 
From this enormous state, seeking to give 176 

Losses their remedies. All weary and o'er-watch'd, 
Take vantage, heavy eyes, not to behold 
This shameful lodging. 

Fortune, good night, smile once more ; turn thy wheel ! 

[He sleeps.] 

Scene Three 

[A Heath] 

Enter Edgar. 

Edg. I heard myself proclaim'd; 
And by the happy hollow of a tree 
Escap'd the hunt. No port is free; no place, 
That guard, and most unusual vigilance, 4 

Does not attend my taking. While I may 'scape 
I will preserve myself; and am bethought 
To take the basest and most poorest shape 
That ever penury, in contempt of man, 8 

Brought near to beast; my face I'll grime with filth, 
Blanket my loins, elf all my hair in knots, 
And with presented nakedness outface 
The winds and persecutions of the sky. 12 

The country gives me proof and precedent 
Of Bedlam beggars, who with roaring voices, 
Strike in their numb'd and mortified bare arms 
Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary; 
And with this horrible object, from low farms, 

172 miracles; cf. n. 10 elf: twist 14 Bedlam; cf. n. 



King Lear, II. iv 49 

Poor pelting villages, sheep-cotes, and mills, 
Sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with prayers, 
Enforce their charity. Poor Turlygood! poor 
Tom ! 20 

That's something yet: Edgar I nothing am. Exit. 

Scene Four 

[Before Gloucester's Castle. Kent in the Stocks'] 

Enter Lear, Fool, and Gentleman. 

Lear. 'Tis strange that they should so depart from 
home, 
And not send back my messenger. 

Gent. As I learn'd, 

The night before there was no purpose in them 
Of this remove. 

Kent. Hail to thee, noble master! 4 

Lear. Ha ! 
Mak'st thou this shame thy pastime? 

Kent. No, my lord. 

Fool. Ha, ha ! he wears cruel garters. Horses 

are tied by the head, dogs and bears by the neck, 

monkeys by the loins, and men by the legs: 

when a man is over-lusty at legs, then he wears 

wooden nether-stocks. 

Lear. What's he that hath so much thy place 
mistook 12 

To set thee here? 

Kent. It is both he and she, 

Your son and daughter. 

Lear. No. 

Kent. Yes. 16 

18 pelting: contemptible 19 bans: curses 

20 Turlygood; cf. n. 7 cruel: pun on crewel, i.e., worsted 

11 nether-stocks: stocks was an old word for stockings 



so King Lear, II. iv 

Lear. No, I say. 

Kent. I say, yea. 

Lear. No, no; they would not. 

Kent. Yes, they have. 20 

Lear. By Jupiter, I swear, no. 

Kent. By Juno, I swear, ay. 

Lear. They durst not do 't; 

They could not, would not do 't; 'tis worse than 

murder, 
To do upon respect such violent outrage. 24 

Resolve me, with all modest haste, which way 
Thou mightst deserve, or they impose, this usage, 
Coming from us. 

Kent. My lord, when at their home 

I did commend your highness' letters to them, 
Ere I was risen from the place that show'd 29 

My duty kneeling, there came a reeking post, 
Stew'd in his haste, half breathless, panting forth 
From Goneril his mistress salutations; 32 

Deliver'd letters, spite of intermission, 
Which presently they read: on whose contents 
They summon'd up their meiny, straight took horse; 
Commanded me to follow, and attend 36 

The leisure of their answer; gave me cold looks: 
And meeting here the other messenger, 
Whose welcome, I perceiv'd, had poison'd mine, — 
Being the very fellow which of late 40 

Display'd so saucily against your highness, — 
Having more man than wit about me, — drew: 
He rais'd the house with loud and coward cries. 
Your son and daughter found this trespass worth 44 
The shame which here it suffers. 

24 upon respect: deliberately 25 Resolve: inform 

33 spite of intermission: despite my prior claim 35 meiny: people 



King Lear, II. iv 51 

Fool. Winter's not gone yet, if the wild geese 
fly that way. 

Fathers that wear rags 48 

Do make their children blind, 
But fathers that bear bags 

Shall see their children kind. 
Fortune, that arrant whore, 52 

Ne'er turns the key to the poor. 
But for all this thou shalt have as many dolours 
for thy daughters as thou canst tell in a year. 
Lear. O ! how this mother swells up toward my 
heart; 56 

Hysterica passio! down, thou climbing sorrow! 
Thy element's below. Where is this daughter? 
Kent. With the earl, sir: here within. 
Lear. Follow me not; stay here. Exit. 

Gent. Made you no more offence than what 
you speak of? 
Kent. None. 
How chance the king comes with so small a 
number ? 64 

Fool. An thou hadst been set i' the stocks for 
that question, thou hadst well deserved it. 

Kent. Why, fool? 67 

Fool. We'll set thee to school to an ant, to 
teach thee there's no labouring i' the winter. All 
that follow their noses are led by their eyes but 
blind men; and there's not a nose among twenty 
but can smell him that's stinking. Let go thy 
hold when a great wheel runs down a hill, lest it 
break thy neck with following it; but the great 
one that goes up the hill, let him draw thee after. 

54 dolours: pun on dollars 55 tell: count 

56 mother: vertigo, a disease called the "hysteric passion" 



52 King Lear, II. iv 

When a wise man gives thee better counsel, give 
me mine again: I would have none but knaves 
follow it, since a fool gives it. 

That sir which serves and seeks for gain, 

And follows but for form, 80 

Will pack when it begins to rain, 

And leave thee in the storm. 
But I will tarry; the fool will stay, 

And let the wise man fly: 84 

The knave turns fool that runs away; 

The fool no knave, perdy. 
Kent. Where learn'd you this, fool? 
Fool. Not i' the stocks, fool. 88 

Enter Lear, and Gloucester. 

Lear. Deny to speak with me ! They are sick ! 
they are weary, 
They have travell'd hard to-night ! Mere fetches, 
The images of revolt and flying off. 
Fetch me a better answer. 

Glo. My dear lord, 92 

You know the fiery quality of the duke; 
How unremovable and fix'd he is 
In his own course. 

Lear. Vengeance ! plague ! death ! confusion ! 
Fiery ! what quality ? Why, Gloucester, Gloucester, 97 
I'd speak with the Duke of Cornwall and his wife. 

Glo. Well, my good lord, I have inform'd them so. 

Lear. Inform'd them! Dost thou understand me, 
man? loo 

Glo. Ay, my good lord. 

Lear. The king would speak with Cornwall; the 
dear father 

81 pack: hurry off 86 perdy: by God, pardieu 

89 Deny: refuse 90 fetches: tricks 91 flying off : desertion 



King Lear, II. iv 53 

Would with his daughter speak, commands her ser- 
vice : 103 
Are they inform'd of this? My breath and blood! 
Fiery! the fiery duke! Tell the hot duke that — 
No, but not yet ; may be he is not well : 
Infirmity doth still neglect all office 
Whereto our health is bound ; we are not ourselves 108 
When nature, being oppress'd, commands the mind 
To suffer with the body. I'll forbear; 
And am fall'n out with my more headier will, 
To take the indispos'd and sickly fit 112 
For the sound man. Death on my state ! [Looking 

on Kent.] Wherefore 
Should he sit here? This act persuades me 
That this remotion of the duke and her 
Is practice only. Give me my servant forth. 116 

Go, tell the duke and 's wife I'd speak with them, 
Now, presently: bid them come forth and hear me, 
Or at their chamber-door I'll beat the drum 
Till it cry sleep to death. 120 

Glo. I would have all well betwixt you. Exit. 

Lear. O, me ! my heart, my rising heart ! but, down ! 

Fool. Cry to it, nuncle, as the cockney did to 
the eels when she put 'em i' the paste alive; she 
knapped 'em o' the coxcombs with a stick, and 
cried, 'Down, wantons, down!' 'Twas her 
brother that, in pure kindness to his horse, 
buttered his hay. 128 

Enter Cornwall, Regan, Gloucester, [and] Servants. 
Lear. Good morrow to you both. 
Corn. Hail to your Grace. 

Kent here set at liberty. 

107 office: dut y 111 more headier: too headstrong 

115 remotion: removal 120 cry sleep to death: murder sleep 

123 cockney: cook 125 knapped: rappe d (pronounce the k) 



54 King Lear, II. iv 

Reg. I am glad to see your highness. 

Lear. Regan, I think you are; I know what reason 
I have to think so: if thou shouldst not be glad, 
I would divorce me from thy mother's tomb, 133 

Sepulchring an adult'ress. — [To Kent.~\ O ! are you 

free ? 
Some other time for that. Beloved Regan, 
Thy sister's naught: O Regan! she hath tied 136 

SharjD-tooth'd unkindness, like a vulture, here: 

[Points to his hearth] 
I can scarce speak to thee; thou'lt not believe 
With how deprav'd a quality — O Regan ! 

Reg. I pray you, sir, take patience. I have 
hope 140 

You less know how to value her desert 
Than she to scant her duty. 

Lear. Say, how is that? 

Reg. I cannot think my sister in the least 
Would fail her obligation: if, sir, perchance 144 

She have restrain'd the riots of your followers, 
'Tis on such ground, and to such wholesome end, 
As clears her from all blame. 

Lear. My curses on her! 

Reg. O, sir! you are old; 148 

Nature in you stands on the very verge 
Of her confine: you should be rul'd and led 
By some discretion that discerns your state 
Better than you yourself. Therefore I pray you 
That to our sister you do make return; 153 

Say, you have wrong'd her, sir. 

Lear. Ask her forgiveness ? 

Do you but mark how this becomes the house: 

136 naught: worthless 139 quality: manner 

150 confine: territory 155 house: household order 



King Lear, II. iv 55 

'Dear daughter, I confess that I am old; 156 

Age is unnecessary: on my knees I beg 

That you'll vouchsafe me raiment, bed, and food.' 

Reg. Good sir, no more; these are unsightly tricks: 
Return you to my sister. 

Lear. Never, Regan. 160 

She hath abated me of half my train ; 
Look'd black upon me ; struck me with her tongue, 
Most serpent-like, upon the very heart. 
All the stor'd vengeances of heaven fall 164 

On her ingrateful top ! Strike her young bones, 
You taking airs, with lameness! 

Corn. Fie, sir, fie ! 

Lear. You nimble lightnings, dart your blinding 
flames 
Into her scornful eyes ! Infect her beauty, 168 

You fen-suck'd fogs, drawn by the powerful sun, 
To fall and blast her pride ! 

Reg. O the blest gods ! So will you wish on me, 
When the rash mood is on. 172 

Lear. No, Regan, thou shalt never have my curse: 
Thy tender-hefted nature shall not give 
Thee o'er to harshness: her eyes are fierce, but thine 
Do comfort and not burn. 'Tis not in thee 176 

To grudge my pleasures, to cut off my train, 
To bandy hasty words, to scant my sizes, 
And, in conclusion, to oppose the bolt 
Against my coming in: thou better know'st 180 

The offices of nature, bond of childhood, 
Effects of courtesy, dues of gratitude; 
Thy half o' the kingdom hast thou not forgot, 
Wherein I thee endow'd. 

161 abated: deprived 166 taking: possessing, in the sense of malignant 
170 fall: make fall 174 tender-hefted : softly framed 

178 sizes: allowances 



56 King Lear, II. iv 

Reg. Good sir, to the purpose. 184 

Lear. Who put my man i' the stocks? 

Tucket •within. 
Corn. What trumpet's that? 

Reg. I know % my sister's; this approves her 
letter, 
That she would soon be here. Is your lady come? 

Enter Steward [Oswald.] 

Lear. This is a slave, whose easy-borrow'd 
pride 188 

Dwells in the fickle grace of her he follows. 
Out, varlet, from my sight ! 

Corn. What means your Grace? 

Lear. Who stock'd my servant? Regan, I have 

good hope 

Thou didst not know on 't. Who comes here? O 

heavens, 192 

Enter Goneril. 

If you do love old men, if your sweet sway 

Allow obedience, if yourselves are old, 

Make it your cause ; send down and take my part ! 

[To Goneril.] Art not asham'd to look upon this 

beard ? 196 

O Regan, wilt thou take her by the hand? 

Gon. Why not by the hand, sir? How have I 

offended ? 
All's not offence that indiscretion finds 
And dotage terms so. 

Lear. O sides ! you are too tough ; 

Will you yet hold? How came my man i' the 

stocks ? 201 



King Lear, II. iv 57 

Corn. I set him there, sir: but his own disorders 
Deserv'd much less advancement. 

Lear. You ! did you ? 

Reg. I pray you, father, being weak, seem so. 
If, till the expiration of your month, 205 

You will return and sojourn with my sister, 
Dismissing half your train, come then to me: 
I am now from home, and out of that provision 
Which shall be needful for your entertainment. 

Lear. Return to her? and fifty men dismiss'd! 
No, rather I abjure all roofs, and choose 
To wage against the enmity o' the air; 212 

To be a comrade with the wolf and owl, 
Necessity's sharp pinch! Return with her! 
Why, the hot-blooded France, that dowerless took 
Our youngest born, I could as well be brought 
To knee his throne, and, squire-like, pension beg 
To keep base life afoot. Return with her ! 
Persuade me rather to be slave and sumpter 
To this detested groom. 

Gon. At your choice, sir. 220 

Lear. I prithee, daughter, do not make me mad: 
I will not trouble thee, my child; farewell. 
Well no more meet, no more see one another ; 
But yet thou art my flesh, my blood, my daughter ; 224 
Or rather a disease that's in my flesh, 
Which I must needs call mine: thou art a boil, 
A plague-sore, an embossed carbuncle, 
In my corrupted blood. But I'll not chide thee; 228 
Let shame come when it will, I do not call it: 
I do not bid the thunder-bearer shoot, 
Nor tell tales of thee to high- judging Jove. 

202 disorders: disorderly acts 212 wage: wage war 

219 sumpter: drudge 227 embossed: swollen 



58 King Lear, II. iv 

Mend when thou canst ; be better at thy leisure : 232 
I can be patient; I can stay with Regan, 
I and my hundred knights. 

Reg. Not altogether so: 

I look'd not for you yet, nor am provided 
For your fit welcome. Give ear, sir, to my sister ; 236 
For those that mingle reason with your passion 
Must be content to think you old, and so — 
But she knows what she does. 

Lear. Is this well spoken? 

Reg. I dare avouch it, sir: what! fifty fol- 
lowers ? 240 
Is it not well? What should you need of more? 
Yea, or so many, sith that both charge and danger 
Speak 'gainst so great a number ? How, in one house, 
Should many people, under two commands, 244 
Hold amity? 'Tis hard; almost impossible. 

Gon. Why might not you, my lord, receive attend- 
ance 
From those that she calls servants, or from mine? 

Reg. Why not, my lord? If then they chanc'd to 
slack you 248 

We could control them. If you will come to me, — 
For now I spy a danger, — I entreat you 
To bring but five-and-twenty ; to no more 
Will I give place or notice. 252 

Lear. I gave you all — 

Reg. And in good time you gave it. 

Lear. Made you my guardians, my depositaries. 
But kept a reservation to be follow'd 
With such a number. What ! must I come to you 256 
With five-and-twenty? Regan, said you so? 

Reg. And speak 't again, my lord ; no more with me. 

252 notice: countenance 



King Lear, II. iv 



59 



Lear. Those wicked creatures yet do look well- 
favour' d, 
When others are more wicked; not being the worst 260 
Stands in some rank of praise. [To Goneril.] I'll 

go with thee: 
Thy fifty yet doth double five-and-twenty, 
And thou art twice her love. 

Gon. Hear me, my lord. 

What need you five-and-twenty, ten, or five, 264 

To follow in a house, where twice so many 
Have a command to tend you? 

Reg. What need one? 

Lear. O ! reason not the need ; our basest beggars 
Are in the poorest thing superfluous: 268 

Allow not nature more than nature needs, 
Man's life is cheap as beast's. Thou art a lady; 
If only to go warm were gorgeous, 
Why, nature needs not what thou gorgeous 
wear'st, 272 

Which scarcely keeps thee warm. But, for true 

need, — 
You heavens, give me that patience, patience I need! 
You see me here, you gods, a poor old man, 
As full of grief as age ; wretched in both ! 276 

If it be you that stir these daughters' hearts 
Against their father, fool me not so much 
To bear it tamely ; touch me with noble anger, 
And let not women's weapons, water-drops, 280 

Stain my man's cheeks! No, you unnatural hags, 
I will have such revenges on you both 
That all the world shall — I will do such things, — 
What they are yet I know not, — but they shall be 284 

268 superfluous: possessed of more than they need 

271 gorgeous; cf. n. 278 fool . . . much: make me not such a fool 



60 King Lear, II. iv 

The terrors of the earth. You think I'll weep; 

No, I'll not weep: 

I have full cause of weeping, but this heart 

Storm and Tempest. 
Shall break into a hundred thousand flaws 288 

Or ere I'll weep. O fool! I shall go mad. 

Exeunt [Lear, Gloucester, Kent, and Fool.~\ 
Corn. Let us withdraw; 'twill be a storm. 
Reg. This house is little: the old man and his 
people 
Cannot be well bestow'd. 292 

Gon. 'Tis his own blame; hath put himself from 
rest, 
And must needs taste his folly. 

Reg. For his particular, I'll receive him gladly, 
But not one follower. 

Gon. So am I purpos'd. 296 

Where is my Lord of Gloucester? 

Corn. Follow'd the old man forth. He is return'd. 

Enter Gloucester. 

Glo. The king is in high rage. 

Corn. Whither is he going? 

Glo. He calls to horse; but will I know not 
whither. 300 

Corn. 'Tis best to give him way; he leads himself. 

Gon. My lord, entreat him by no means to stay. 

Glo. Alack! the night comes on, and the bleak 
winds 
Do sorely ruffle; for many miles about 304 

There's scarce a bush. 

Reg. O ! sir, to wilful men, 

The injuries that they themselves procure 

288 flaws: pieces 

295 For his particular: in regard to himself 304 ruffle: bluster 



King Lear, III. i 61 

Must be their schoolmasters. Shut up your doors; 
He is attended with a desperate train, 308 

And what they may incense him to, being apt 
To have his ear abus'd, wisdom bids fear. 

Corn. Shut up your doors, my lord; 'tis a wild 
night : 
My Regan counsels well: come out o' the storm. 

Exeunt. 



ACT THIRD 

Scene One 

[The Heath] 
Storm still. Enter Kent and a Gentleman, severally. 

Kent. Who's here, beside foul weather? 

Gent. One minded like the weather, most unquietly. 

Kent. I know you. Where's the king? 

Gent. Contending with the fretful elements; 
Bids the wind blow the earth into the sea, 5 

Or swell the curled waters 'bove the main, 
That things might change or cease; [tears his white 

hair, 
Which the impetuous blasts, with eyeless rage, 8 

Catch in their fury, and make nothing of; 
Strives in his little world of man to out-scorn 
The to-and-fro-conflicting wind and rain. 
This night, wherein the cub-drawn bear would 
couch, 12 

The lion and the belly-pinched wolf 
Keep their fur dry, unbonneted he runs, 
And bids what will take all.] 

6 main: land 12 cub-drawn: dry-sucked, ravenous 



62 King Lear, III. i 

Kent. But who is with him? 

Gent. None but the fool, who labours to out-jest 16 
His heart-struck injuries. 

Kent. Sir, I do know you; 

And dare, upon the warrant of my note, 
Commend a dear thing to you. There is division, 
Although as yet the face of it be cover'd 20 

With mutual cunning, 'twixt Albany and Cornwall; 
Who have — as who have not, that their great stars 
Thron'd and set high — servants, who seem no less, 
Which are to France the spies and speculations 
Intelligent of our state; what hath been seen, 25 

Either in snuffs and packings of the dukes, 
Or the hard rein which both of them have borne 
Against the old kind king; or something deeper, 
Whereof perchance these are but furnishings; 29 

[But, true it is, from France there comes a power 
Into this scatter'd kingdom; who already, 
Wise in our negligence, have secret feet 32 

In some of our best ports, and are at point 
To show their open banner. Now to you: 
If on my credit you dare build so far 
To make your speed to Dover, you shall find 36 

Some that will thank you, making just report 
Of how unnatural and bemadding sorrow 
The king hath cause to plain. 

I am a gentleman of blood and breeding, 40 

And from some knowledge and assurance offer 
This office to you.] 

Gent. I will talk further with you. 

18 note: observation 23 no less: no less than true servants 

24 speculations: scouts 

25 Intelligent: giving intelligence, i.e., knowledge 

26 snuffs: resentments packings: sudden starts 

29 furnishings: outer covering s 39 plain: complain 

41 knowledge and assurance: sure knowledge 



King Lear, III. ii 63 

Kent. No, do not. 

For confirmation that I am much more 44 

Than my out-wall, open this purse, and take 
What it contains. If you shall see Cordelia, — 
As doubt not but you shall, — show her this ring, 
And she will tell you who your fellow is 48 

That yet you do not know. Fie on this storm! 

1 will go seek the king. 

Gent. Give me your hand. Have you no more to 

say? 
Kent. Few words, but, to effect, more than all 
yet; 52 

That, when we have found the king, — in which your 

pain 
That way, I'll this, — he that first lights on him 
Holla the other. Exeunt. 

Scene Two 

[The Same] 

Storm Still. 

Enter Lear and Fool. 

Lear. Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks ! rage ! 

blow! 
You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout 
Till you have drench'd our steeples, drown'd the 

cocks ! 
You sulphurous and thought-executing fires, 4 

Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts, 
Singe my white head ! And thou, all-shaking thunder, 
Strike flat the thick rotundity o' the world! 
Crack nature's moulds, all germens spill at once 

48 fellow: companion 52 to effect: in importance 

2 hurricanoes: water-spouts 3 cocks: weathercocks on steeples 

4 thought-executing: acting God's thought 

5 Vaunt-couriers: advance messengers 8 germens: seeds 



64 King Lear, III. ii 

That make ingrateful man! 9 

Fool. O nuncle, court holy-water in a dry 
house is better than this rain-water out o' door. 
Good nuncle, in, and ask thy daughters' blessing; 
here's a night pities neither wise man nor fool. 
Lear. Rumble thy bellyful ! Spit fire ! spout 
rain ! 14 

Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire, are my daughters: 
I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness; 
I never gave you kingdom, call'd you children, 
You owe me no subscription: then, let fall 
Your horrible pleasure; here I stand, your slave, 
A poor, infirm, weak, and despis'd old man. 20 

But yet I call you servile ministers, 
That have with two pernicious daughters join'd 
Your high-engender'd battles 'gainst a head 
So old and white as this. O ! O ! 'tis foul. 24 

Fool. He that has a house to put his head in 
has a good head-piece. 

The cod-piece that will house 

Before the head has any, 28 

The head and he shall louse; 

So beggars marry many. 
The man that makes his toe 

What he his heart should make, 32 

Shall of a corn cry woe, 
And turn his sleep to wake. 
For there was never yet fair woman but she 
made mouths in a glass. 36 

Enter Kent. 

Lear. No, I will be the pattern of all patience; 



I will say nothing. 



10 court holy-water: flattery 18 subscription: allegiance 

27 cod-piece : part of man's dress between the legs 



King Lear, III. ii 65 

Kent. Who's there? 

Fool. Marry, here's grace and a cod-piece; 

that's a wise man and a fool. 41 

Kent. Alas! sir, are you here? things that love 
night 
Love not such nights as these; the wrathful skies 
Gallow the very wanderers of the dark, 44 

And make them keep their caves. Since I was man 
Such sheets of fire, such bursts of horrid thunder, 
Such groans of roaring wind and rain, I never 
Remember to have heard; man's nature cannot 
carry 48 

The affliction nor the fear. 

Lear. Let the great gods, 

That keep this dreadful pother o'er our heads, 
Find out their enemies now. Tremble, thou wretch, 
That hast within thee undivulged crimes, 52 

Unwhipp'd of justice; hide thee, thou bloody hand; 
Thou perjur'd, and thou simular of virtue 
That art incestuous; caitiff, to pieces shake, 
That under covert and convenient seeming 56 

Hast practis'd on man's life; close pent-up guilts 
Rive your concealing continents, and cry 
These dreadful summoners grace. I am a man 
More sinn'd against than sinning. 

Kent. Alack! bare-headed! 

Gracious my lord, hard by here is a hovel ; 61 

Some friendship will it lend you 'gainst the tempest; 
Repose you there while I to this hard house, — 
More harder than the stone whereof 'tis rais'd, — 
Which even but now, demanding after you, 65 

Denied me to come in, return and force 
Their scanted courtesy. 

44 Gallow: terrify 50 pother: disturbance 54 simular: simulator 
58 Rive: split continents: covers 59 grace: mercy 



66 King Lear, III, ii 

Lear. My wits begin to turn. 

Come on, my boy. How dost, my boy ? Art cold ? 68 
I am cold myself. Where is this straw, my fellow? 
The art of our necessities is strange, 
That can make vile things precious. Come, your 

hovel. 
Poor fool and knave, I have one part in my heart 72 
That's sorry yet for thee. 
Fool. 

He that has a little tiny wit, 

With hey, ho, the wind and the rain, 
Must make content with his fortunes fit, 76 
Though the rain it raineth every day. 
Lear. True, my good boy. Come, bring us to this 
hovel. Exit [with Kent]. 

Fool. This is a brave night to cool a courtezan. 
I'll speak a prophecy ere I go: 80 

When priests are more in word than matter; 
When brewers mar their malt with water; 
When nobles are their tailors' tutors; 
No heretics burn'd, but wenches' suitors; S4 

When every case in law is right; 
No squire in debt, nor no poor knight; 
When slanders do not live in tongues ; 
Nor cutpurses come not to throngs; 88 

When usurers tell their gold i' the field; 
And bawds and whores do churches build; 
Then shall the realm of Albion 
Come to great confusion: 92 

Then comes the time, who lives to see 't, 
That going shall be us'd with feet. 
This prophecy Merlin shall make; for I live 
before his time. Exit. 

84 suitors; cf. n. 92 confusion: destruction 95 Merlin; cf. n. 



King Lear, III. Hi 67 

Scene Three 

[Gloucester's Castle'] 

Enter Gloucester and Edmund. 

Glo. Alack, alack! Edmund, I like not this 
unnatural dealing. When I desired their leave 
that I might pity him, they took from me the 
use of mine own house; charged me, on pain of 
their perpetual displeasure, neither to speak of 
him, entreat for him, nor any way sustain him. 
Edm. Most savage, and unnatural! 7 

Glo J Go to; say you nothing. There is 
division between the dukes, and a worse matter 
than that. I have received a letter this night; 
'tis dangerous to be spoken; I have locked the 
letter in my closet. These injuries the king now 
bears will be revenged home; there's part of 
a power already footed; we must incline to the 
king. I will seek him and privily relieve him; 
go you and maintain talk with the duke, that 
my charity be not of him perceived. If he ask 
for me, I am ill and gone to bed. If I die for it, 
as no less is threatened me, the king, my old 
master, must be relieved. There is some strange 
thing toward, Edmund; pray you, be careful. 21 

Exit. 
Edm. This courtesy, forbid thee, shall the duke 
Instantly know; and of that letter too: 
This seems a fair deserving, and must draw me 
That which my father loses; no less than all: 25 

The younger rises when the old doth fall. Exit. 

14 footed: on foot 



68 King Lear, III. iv 

Scene Four 
[The Heath. Before a Hovel] 
Enter Lear, Kent, and Fool. 

Kent. Here is the place, my lord; good my lord, 
enter : 
The tyranny of the open night's too rough 
For nature to endure. Storm still. 

Lear. Let me alone. 

Kent. Good my lord, enter here. 

Lear. Wilt break my heart? 4 

Kent. I'd rather break mine own. Good my lord, 
enter. 

Lear. Thou think'st 'tis much that this contentious 
storm 
Invades us to the skin: so 'tis to thee; 
But where the greater malady is fix'd, 8 

The lesser is scarce felt. Thou'dst shun a bear; 
But if thy flight lay toward the roaring sea, 
Thou'dst meet the bear i' the mouth. When the 

mind's free 
The body's delicate; the tempest in my mind 12 

Doth from my senses take all feeling else 
Save what beats there. Filial ingratitude ! 
Is it not as this mouth should tear this hand 
For lifting food to 't? But I will punish home: 16 
No, I will weep no more. In such a night 
To shut me out ! Pour on ; I will endure. 
In such a night as this ! O Regan, Goneril ! 
Your old kind father, whose frank heart gave all, — 20 
O ! that way madness lies ; let me shun that ; 
No more of that. 

Kent. Good, my lord, enter here. 






King Lear, III. iv 69 

Lear. Prithee, go in thyself; seek thine own ease: 
This tempest will not give me leave to ponder 24 

On things would hurt me more. But I'll go in. 
[To the Fool.] In, boy; go first. You houseless 

poverty, — 
Nay, get thee in. I'll pray, and then I'll sleep. 

[Fool goes in.] 
Poor naked wretches, wheresoe'er you are, 28 

That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm, 
How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides, 
Your loop'd and window'd raggedness, defend you 
From seasons such as these ? O ! I have ta'en 32 

Too little care of this. Take physic, pomp; 
Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel, 
That thou mayst shake the superflux to them, 
And show the heavens more just. 36 

Edg. [Within.'] Fathom and half, fathom and half I 
Poor Tom! 

[The Fool runs out from the hovel.J 
Fool. Come not in here, nuncle; here's a spirit. 
Help me ! help me ! 

Kent. Give me thy hand. Who's there? 40 

Fool. A spirit, a spirit: he says his name's poor 

Tom. 
Kent. What art thou that dost grumble there i' 
the straw? 
Come forth. 

[Enter Edgar disguised as a madman.] 
Edg. Away ! the foul fiend follows me ! 44 

Through the sharp hawthorn blow the winds. 
Hum ! go to thy cold bed and warm thee. 
Lear. Didst thou give all to thy two daughters ? 
And art thou come to this? 48 

31 loop'd: full of holes 35 superflux: excess 



70 King Lear, III. iv 

Edg. Who gives anything to poor Tom? 
whom the foul fiend hath led through fire and 
through flame, through ford and whirlpool, o'er 
bog and quagmire; that hath laid knives under 
his pillow, and halters in his pew; set ratsbane 
by his porridge; made him proud of heart, to 
ride on a bay trotting-horse over four-inched 
bridges, to course his own shadow for a traitor. 
Bless thy five wits ! Tom's a-cold. O ! do de, 
do de, do de. Bless thee from whirlwinds, star- 
blasting, and taking ! Do poor Tom some charity, 
whom the foul fiend vexes. There could I have 
him now, and there, and there again, and there. 

Storm still. 
Lear. What! have his daughters brought him to 
this pass? 
Could'st thou save nothing? Didst thou give them 
all? 

Fool. Nay, he reserved a blanket, else we had 
been all shamed. 65 

Lear. Now all the plagues that in the pendulous 
air 
Hang fated o'er men's faults light on thy daughters ! 
Kent. He hath no daughters, sir. 68 

Lear. Death, traitor ! nothing could have subdu'd 
nature 
To such a lowness, but his unkind daughters. 
Is it the fashion that discarded fathers 
Should have thus little mercy on their flesh? 72 

Judicious punishment ! 'twas this flesh begot 
Those pelican daughters. 

49 Who gives, etc.; cf. n. 59 taking: influence of malignant powers 

66 pendulous: overhanging 74 pelican; cf. n. 



King Lear, III. iv _ ?i 

JEdgr. Pillicock sat on Pillicock-hill : 
Halloo, halloo, loo, loo ! 76 

Fool. This cold night will turn us all to fools 
and madmen. 

Edg. Take heed o' the foul fiend. Obey thy 
parents; keep thy word justly; swear not; com- 
mit not with man's sworn spouse; set not thy 
sweet heart on proud array. Tom's a-cold. 82 

Lear. What hast thou been? 

Edg. A servingman, proud in heart and 
mind; that curled my hair, wore gloves in my 
cap, served the lust of my mistress's heart, and 
did the act of darkness with her; swore as many 
oaths as I spake words, and broke them in the 
sweet face of heaven; one that slept in the con- 
triving of lust, and waked to do it. Wine loved 
I deeply, dice dearly, and in woman out-para- 
moured the Turk: false of heart, light of ear, 
bloody of hand; hog in sloth, fox in stealth, 
wolf in greediness, dog in madness, lion in prey. 
Let not the creaking of shoes nor the rustling of 
silks betray thy poor heart to woman: keep thy 
foot out of brothels, thy hand out of plackets, 
thy pen from lenders' books, and defy the foul 
fiend. Still through the hawthorn blows the 
cold wind; says suum, mun ha no nonny. 
Dolphin my boy, my boy ; sessa ! let him 
trot by. Storm still, 

Lear. Why, thou wert better in thy grave 
than to answer with thy uncovered body this 
extremity of the skies. Is man no more than 
this ? Consider him well. Thou owest the worm 

97 plackets: the slit in a woman's skirt 

100 suum, mun, etc.: probably mere nonsensical exclamations 



72 King Lear, III. iv 

no silk, the beast no hide, the sheep no wool, the 
cat no perfume. Ha ! here's three on 's are 
sophisticated; thou art the thing itself; unac- 
commodated man is no more but such a poor, 
bare, forked animal as thou art. Off, off, you 
lendings ! Come ; unbutton here. 112 

[Tearing off his clothes.'] 
Fool. Prithee, nuncle, be contented; 'tis a 
naughty night to swim in. Now a little fire in 
a wide field were like an old lecher's heart; a 
small spark, all the rest on 's body cold. Look! 
here comes a walking fire. 117 

Enter Gloucester with a torch. 

Edg. This is the foul fiend Flibbertigibbet: 
he begins at curfew, and walks till the first cock; 
he gives the web and the pin, squints the eye, 
and makes the harelip; mildews the white 
wheat, and hurts the poor creature of earth. 122 

Swithold footed thrice the old; 

He met the night-mare, and her nine- fold; 
Bid her alight, 
And her troth plight, 

And aroint thee, witch, aroint thee ! 

Kent. How fares your Grace? 128 

Lear. What 's he? 

Kent. Who 's there? What is 't you seek? 

Glo. What are you there? Your names? 

Edg. Poor Tom; that eats the swimming frog; 
the toad, the tadpole, the wall-newt, and the 
water; that in the fury of his heart, when 

108 cat: civet-cat 118 Flibbertigibbet: name of a demon 

120 web and the pin: eye-disease 

123 Swithold: St. Withold, St. Vitalis old: wold 

127 aroint: get out! 133 wall-newt: lizard 



King Lear, III. iv 73 

the foul fiend rages, eats cow-dung for sallets; 
swallows the old rat and the ditch-dog; drinks 
the green mantle of the standing pool; who is 
whipped from tithing to tithing, and stock- 
punished, and imprisoned; who hath had three 
suits to his back, six shirts to his body, horse to 
ride, and weapon to wear. 141 

But mice and rats and such small deer 
Have been Tom's food for seven long year. 
Beware my follower. Peace, Smulkin ! peace, 
thou fiend. 145 

Glo. What! hath your Grace no better company? 
Edg. The prince of darkness is a gentleman; 
Modo he's call'd, and Mahu. 

Glo. Our flesh and blood, my lord, is grown so vile, 
That it doth hate what gets it. 150 

Edg. Poor Tom's a-cold. 

Glo. Go in with me. My duty cannot suffer 
To obey in all your daughters' hard commands: 
Though their injunction be to bar my doors, 154 

And let this tyrannous night take hold upon you, 
Yet have I ventur'd to come seek you out 156 

And bring you where both fire and food is ready. 

Lear. First let me talk with this philosopher. 
What is the cause of thunder ? 

Kent. Good my lord, take his offer; go into the 
house. 160 

Lear. I'll talk a word with this same learned 
Theban. 
What is your study? 

Edg. How to prevent the fiend, and to kill vermin. 
Lear. Let me ask you one word in private. 

135 sallets: salads 136 ditch-dog: dea d dogs thrown away in ditches 

138 tithing: district 

142 deer: beast, German 'tier' 144 Smulkin; cf. n. 



74 King Lear, III. iv 

Kent. Importune him once more to go, my lord ; 165 
His wits begin to unsettle. 

Glo. Canst thou blame him? Storm still. 

His daughters seek his death. Ah! that good Kent; 
He said it would be thus, poor banish'd man ! 
Thou sayst the king grows mad; I'll tell thee, 
friend, 169 

I am almost mad myself. I had a son, 
Now outlaw'd from my blood; he sought my life, 
But lately, very late; I lov'd him, friend, 172 

No father his son dearer; true to tell thee, 
The grief hath craz'd my wits. What a night 's 

this! 
I do beseech your Grace, — 

Lear. O ! cry you mercy, sir. 

Noble philosopher, your company. 176 

Edg. Tom's a-cold. 
Glo. In, fellow, there, into the hovel: keep thee 

warm. 
Lear. Come, let's in all. 

Kent. This way, my lord. 

Lear. With him ; 

I will keep still with my philosopher. 180 

Kent. Good my lord, soothe him; let him take the 

fellow. 
Glo. Take him you on. 
Kent. Sirrah, come on; go along with us. 
Lear. Come, good Athenian. 

Glo. No words, no words: hush. 

Edg. Child Rowland to the dark tower came, 
His word was still, Fie, foh, and fum, 
I smell the blood of a British man. 187 

Exeunt. 

185 Child Rowland; cf. ft. 



King Lear, III. v 75 

Scene Five 

[Gloucester's Castle'] 

Enter Cornwall and Edmund. 

Corn. I will have my revenge ere I depart 
his house. 

Edm. How, my lord, I may be censured, that 
nature thus gives way to loyalty, something 
fears me to think of. 5 

Corn. I now perceive it was not altogether 
your brother's evil disposition made him seek 
his death; but a provoking merit, set a-work by 
a reproveable badness in himself. 9 

Edm. How malicious is my fortune, that I 
must repent to be just! This is the letter he 
spoke of, which approves him an intelligent 
party to the advantages of France. O heavens ! 
that this treason were not, or not I the detector ! 

Corn. Go with me to the duchess. 

Edm. If the matter of this paper be certain, 
you have mighty business in hand. 17 

Corn. True, or false, it hath made thee Earl 
of Gloucester. Seek out where thy father is, 
that he may be ready for our apprehension. 20 

Edm. [Aside.'] If I find him comforting the 
king, it will stuff his suspicion more fully. — I 
will persever in my course of loyalty, though 
the conflict be sore between that and my blood. 

Corn. I will lay trust upon thee; and thou 
shalt find a dearer father in my love. Exeunt. 

3 censured : judged 

4 something fears: somewhat frightens 8 provoking: urging 



76 King Lear, III. vi 

Scene Six 
[A Chamber in a Farmhouse adjoining the Castle] 

Enter Gloucester, [Lear,] Kent, [Fool, and 
Edgar.] 

Glo. Here is better than the open air; take 
it thankfully. I will piece out the comfort with 
what addition I can: I will not be long from 
you. Exit. 4 

Kent. All the power of his wits has given way 
to his impatience. The gods reward your kind- 
ness ! 

Edg. Frateretto calls me, and tells me Nero 
is an angler in the lake of darkness. Pray, 
innocent, and beware the foul fiend. 

Fool. Prithee, nuncle, tell me whether a 
madman be a gentleman or a yeoman ! 12 

Lear. A king, a king! 

Fool. No; he's a yeoman that has a gentle- 
man to his son; for he's a mad yeoman that 
sees his son a gentleman before him. 16 

Lear. To have a thousand with red burning spits 
Come hizzing in upon 'em, — 

[Edg. The foul fiend bites my back. 

Fool. He's mad that trusts in the tameness 
of a wolf, a horse's health, a boy's love, or a 
whore's oath. 

Lear. It shall be done ; I will arraign them straight. 
[To Edgar.] Come, sit thou here, most learned 

justicer; 24 

[To the Fool.] Thou, sapient sir, sit here. Now, 

you she foxes ! 

8 Frateretto; cf. n. 10 innocent: the Fool 






King Lear, III. vi 77 

Edg. Look, where he stands and glares ! 
wantest thou eyes at trial, madam? 

Come o'er the bourn, Bessy, to me, — 28 

Fool. Her boat hath a leak, 

And she must not speak 
Why she dares not come over to thee. 
Edg. The foul fiend haunts poor Tom in the 
voice of a nightingale. Hopdance cries in Tom's 
belly for two white herring. Croak not, black 
angel; I have no food for thee. 
Kent. How do you, sir? Stand you not so 
amaz'd: 36 

Will you lie down and rest upon the cushions ? 

Lear. I'll see their trial first. Bring in their 
evidence. 
[To Edgar.] Thou robed man of justice, take thy 

place ; 
[To the Fool.] And thou, his yoke- fellow of equity, 40 
Bench by his side. [To Kent.] You are o' the 

commission, 
Sit you too. 

Edg. Let us deal justly. 

Sleepest or wakest thou, jolly shepherd? 44 

Thy sheep be in the corn; 
And for one blast of thy minikin mouth, 
Thy sheep shall take no harm. 
Purr! the cat is grey. 48 

Lear. Arraign her first; 'tis Goneril. I here 
take my oath before this honourable assembly, 
she kicked the poor king her father. 

Fool. Come hither, mistress. Is your name 
Goneril ? 53 

28 Come, etc.; cf. n. 36 amaz'd: confused 

46 minikin: mignonne, pretty 



78 King Lear, III. vi 

Lear. She cannot deny it. 
Fool. Cry you mercy, I took you for a joint-stool. 
Lear. And here's another, whose warp'd looks 
proclaim 56 

What store her heart is made on. Stop her there ! 
Arms, arms, sword, fire! Corruption in the place! 
False justicer, why hast thou let her 'scape?] 

Edg. Bless thy five wits ! 60 

Kent. O pity ! Sir, where is the patience now 
That you so oft have boasted to retain? 

Edg. [Aside.'] My tears begin to take his part 
so much, 
They'll mar my counterfeiting. 64 

Lear. The little dogs and all, 
Tray, Blanch, and Sweet-heart, see, they bark at me. 
Edg. Tom will throw his head at them. 
Avaunt, you curs ! 68 

Be thy mouth or black or white, 
Tooth that poisons if it bite; 
Mastiff, greyhound, mongrel grim, 
Hound or spaniel, brach or lym; 72 

Or bobtail tike or trundle-tail; 
Tom will make them weep and wail: 
For, with throwing thus my head, 
Dogs leap the hatch, and all are fled. 76 

Do de, de, de. Sessa! Come, march to wakes 
and fairs and market-towns. Poor Tom, thy 
horn is dry. 79 

Lear. Then let them anatomize Regan, see 
what breeds about her heart. Is there any cause 
in nature that makes these hard hearts? [To 

55 joint-stool; cf. n. 72 lym: leash-hound 

73 tike: cur trundle-tail: curly tail 

76 hatch: lower half of the house-door 

77 wakes: church consecrations 



King Lear, III. vi 79 

Edgar.] You, sir, I entertain you for one of my 
hundred; only I do not like the fashion of your 
garments: you will say, they are Persian attire; 
but let them be changed. 

Kent. Now, good my lord, lie here and rest 
awhile. 88 

Lear. Make no noise, make no noise; draw 
the curtains: so, so, so. Well go to supper i' 
the morning: so, so, so. 

Fool. And I'll go to bed at noon. 92 

Enter Gloucester. 

Glo. Come hither, friend: where is the king 
my master? 

Kent. Here, sir; but trouble him not, his 
wits are gone. 96 

Glo. Good friend, I prithee, take him in thy arms; 
I have o'erheard a plot of death upon him. 
There is a litter ready; lay him in 't, 
And drive toward Dover, friend, where thou shalt 

meet loo 

Both welcome and protection. Take up thy master: 
If thou shouldst dally half an hour, his life, 
With thine, and all that offer to defend him, 
Stand in assured loss. Take up, take up ; 104 

And follow me, that will to some provision 
Give thee quick conduct. 

[Kent. Oppress'd nature sleeps: 

This rest might yet have balm'd thy broken sinews, 
Which, if convenience will not allow, 108 

Stand in hard cure. — [To the Fool.] Come, help to 

bear thy master; 

83 entertain: employ 92 noon; cf. n. 

104 in assured loss: sure to be lost 

106 conduct: guidance 109 in hard cure : hard to cure 



80 King Lear, III. vii 

Thou must not stay behind. 

Glo.] Come, come, away. 

Exeunt [all but Edgar.] 

\_Edg. When we our betters see bearing our woes, 
We scarcely think our miseries our foes. 112 

Who alone suffers suffers most i' the mind, 
Leaving free things and happy shows behind; 
But then the mind much sufferance doth o'erskip, 
When grief hath mates, and bearing fellowship. 116 
How light and portable my pain seems now, 
When that which makes me bend makes the king bow ; 
He childed as I father'd! Tom, away! 
Mark the high noises, and thyself bewray 120 

When false opinion, whose wrong thought defiles thee, 
In thy just proof repeals and reconciles thee. 
What will hap more to-night, safe 'scape the king! 
Lurk, lurk.] [Exit.'] 

' Scene Seven 

[Gloucester's Castle] 

Enter Cornwall, Regan, Goneril, Bastard [Edmund] 
and Servants. 

Corn. Post speedily to my lord your husband; 
show him this letter: the army of France is 
landed. Seek out the traitor Gloucester. 

[Exeunt some of the Servants.] 

Reg. Hang him instantly. 4 

Gon. Pluck out his eyes. 

Corn. Leave him to my displeasure. Edmund, 
keep you our sister company: the revenges we 
are bound to take upon your traitorous father 

116 bearing: suffering 117 portable: endurable 

120 high noises: great tumults 122 repeals: recalls 

123 What . . . more: whatever else 



King Lear, III. vii 81 

are not fit for your beholding. Advise the duke, 
where you are going, to a most festinate prepara- 
tion: we are bound to the like. Our posts shall 
be swift and intelligent betwixt us. Farewell, 
dear sister: farewell, my Lord of Gloucester. 13 

Enter Steward [Oswald.] 

How now? Where's the king? 
Osw. My Lord of Gloucester hath convey'd him 
hence : 
Some five or six and thirty of his knights, 16 

Hot questrists after him, met him at gate; 
Who, with some other of the lord's dependants, 
Are gone with him toward Dover, where they boast 
To have well-armed friends. 

Corn. Get horses for your mistress. 20 

Gon. Farewell, sweet lord, and sister. 
Corn. Edmund, farewell. 

[Exeunt Goneril, Edmund, and Oswald.] 
Go seek the traitor Gloucester, 
Pinion him like a thief, bring him before us. 

[Exeunt other Servants.] 
Though well we may not pass upon his life 24 

Without the form of justice, yet our power 
Shall do a courtesy to our wrath, which men 
May blame but not control. Who's there? The 
traitor? 

Enter Gloucester, and Servants. 

Reg. Ingrateful fox ! 'tis he. 28 

Corn. Bind fast his corky arms. 
Glo. What mean your Graces? Good my friends, 
consider 
You are my guests: do me no foul play, friends. 

10 festinate: speedy 17 questrists: searchers 29 corky: dry, withered 



82 King Lear, III. vii 

Corn. Bind him, I say. [Servants bind him.] 

Reg. Hard, hard. O filthy traitor ! 

Glo. Unmerciful lady as you are, I'm none. 33 

Corn. To this chair bind him. Villain, thou shalt 
find — [Regan plucks his beard.] 

Glo. By the kind gods, 'tis most ignobly done 
To pluck me by the beard. 36 

Reg. So white, and such a traitor! 

Glo. Naughty lady, 

These hairs, which thou dost ravish from my chin, 
Will quicken, and accuse thee: I am your host: 
With robbers' hands my hospitable favours 40 

You should not ruffle thus. What will you do? 

Corn. Come, sir, what letters had you late from 
France ? 

Reg. Be simple-answer'd, for we know the truth. 

Corn. And what confederacy have you with the 
traitors . 44 

Late footed in the kingdom? 

Reg. To whose hands have you sent the lunatic 
king? 
Speak. 

Glo. I have a letter guessingly set down, 48 

Which came from one that's of a neutral heart, 
And not from one oppos'd. 

Corn. Cunning. 

Reg. And false. 

Corn. Where hast thou sent the king? 

Glo. To Dover. 

Reg. Wherefore to Dover? Wast thou not charg'd 
at peril — 52 

Corn. Wherefore to Dover? Let him answer that. 

37 Naughty: wicked 40 hospitable favours: features of the host 

48 guessingly: expressed in conjectural language 



King Lear, III, vii 



Glo. I am tied to the stake, and I must stand the 
course. 

Reg. Wherefore to Dover? 55 

Glo. Because I would not see thy cruel nails 
Pluck out his poor old eyes ; nor thy fierce sister 
In his anointed flesh stick boarish fangs. 
The sea, with such a storm as his bare head 
In hell-black night endur'd, would have buoy'd up, 60 
And quench'd the stelled fires; 
Yet, poor old heart, he holp the heavens to rain. 
If wolves had at thy gate howl'd that dern time, 
Thou shouldst have said, 'Good porter, turn the 
key,' 64 

All cruels else subscrib'd: but I shall see 
The winged vengeance overtake such children. 

Corn. See 't shalt thou never. Fellows, hold the 
chair. 
Upon these eyes of thine I'll set my foot. 68 

Glo. He that will think to live till he be old, 
Give me some help ! O cruel ! O ye gods ! 

[Gloucester's eye put out.~\ 

Reg. One side will mock another; the other too. 

Corn. If you see vengeance — 

First Serv. Hold your hand, my lord: 

I have serv'd you ever since I was a child, 73 

But better service have I never done you 
Than now to bid you hold. 

Reg. How now, you dog! 

First Serv. If you did wear a beard upon your 
chin, 76 

I'd shake it on this quarrel. What do you mean? 

Corn. My villain! [Draws.] 

54 course: an attack in the sport of bear-baiting 

61 stelled fires: fixed stars 63 dern: dark 

65 cruels; cf. n. 78 villain: servant 



8 * King Lear, III. vii 

First Serv. Nay then, come on, and take the chance 
of anger. [Draws. They fight. 

Cornwall is wounded. ] 
Reg. Give me thy sword. A peasant stand up thus ! 

Kills him. 
First Serv. O ! I am slain. My lord, you have one 
eye left 81 

To see some mischief on him. O ! 

Corn. Lest it see more, prevent it. Out, vile jelly! 
Where is thy lustre now? S4 

Glo. All dark and comfortless. Where's my son 
Edmund? 
Edmund, enkindle all the sparks of nature 
To quit this horrid act. 

Reg. Out, treacherous villain! 

Thou call'st on him that hates thee ; it was he 
That made the overture of thy treasons to us, 89 

Who is too good to pity thee. 

Glo. O my follies ! Then Edgar was abus'd. 
Kind gods, forgive me that, and prosper him! 92 

Reg. Go thrust him out at gates, and let him smell 
His way to Dover. Exit [one] with Gloucester. 
How is 't, my lord? How look you? 
Corn. I have receiv'd a hurt. Follow me, lady. 
Turn out that eyeless villain; throw this slave 
Upon the dunghill. Regan, I bleed apace: 97 

Untimely comes this hurt. Give me your arm. 

[Exit Cornwall led by Regan.] 
[Sec. Serv. I'll never care what wickedness I do 
If this man come to good. 

Third Serv. If she live long, loo 

And, in the end, meet the old course of death, 
Women will all turn monsters. 

87 quit: requite 89 overture: exposure 101 old: familiar, regular 



King Lear, IV. i 85 

Sec. Serv. Let's follow the old earl, and get the 
Bedlam 
To lead him where he would: his roguish mad- 
ness 104 
Allows itself to any thing. 

Third Serv. Go thou; I'll fetch some flax, and 
whites of eggs, 
To apply to his bleeding face. Now, heaven help 
him! Exeunt severally. 



ACT FOURTH 

Scene One 

[The Heath] 

Enter Edgar. 

Edg. Yet better thus, and known to be contemn'd, 
Than still contemn'd and flatter'd. To be worst, 
The lowest and most dejected thing of fortune, 
Stands still in esperance, lives not in fear: 4 

The lamentable change is from the best; 
The worst returns to laughter. Welcome, then, 
Thou unsubstantial air that I embrace: 
The wretch that thou hast blown unto the worst 
Owes nothing to thy blasts. But who comes here? 9 

Enter Gloucester, and an old man. 

My father, poorly led ? World, world, O world ! 
But that thy strange mutations make us hate thee, 
Life would not yield to age. 

Old Man. O my good lord! 12 

4 esperance: hope 11 mutations; cf. n. 



86 



King Lear, IV. i 



I have been your tenant, and your father's tenant, 
These fourscore years. 

Glo. Away, get thee away; good friend, be gone; 
Thy comforts can do me no good at all; 16 

Thee they may hurt. 

Old Man. You cannot see your way. 

Glo. I have no way, and therefore want no eyes; 
I stumbled when I saw. Full oft 'tis seen, 
Our means secure us, and our mere defects 20 

Prove our commodities. Ah ! dear son Edgar, 
The food of thy abused father's wrath; 
Might I but live to see thee in my touch, 
I'd say I had eyes again. 

Old Man. How now! Who's there? 24 

Edg. [Aside.] O gods ! Who is 't can say, 'I am at 
the worst?' 
I am worse than e'er I was. 

Old Man. 'Tis poor mad Tom. 

Edg. [Aside.] And worse I may be yet; the worst 
is not, 
So long as we can say, 'This is the worst.' 28 

Old Man. Fellow, where goest? 

Glo. Is it a beggar-man? 

Old Man. Madman and beggar too. 

Glo. He has some reason, else he could not beg. 
I' the last night's storm I such a fellow saw, 32 

Which made me think a man a worm: my son 
Came then into my mind; and yet my mind 
Was then scarce friends with him: I have heard more 

since. 
As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods; 36 

They kill us for their sport. 

Edg. [Aside.] How should this be? 

20 means; cf. n. 



King Lear, IV. i 87 

Bad is the trade that must play fool to sorrow, 

Angering itself and others. — [To Gloucester.] Bless 
thee, master ! 
Glo. Is that the naked fellow? 
Old Man. Ay, my lord. 

Glo. Then, prithee, get thee gone. If, for my 
sake, 41 

Thou wilt o'ertake us, hence a mile or twain, 

I' the way toward Dover, do it for ancient love; 

And bring some covering for this naked soul 44 

Who I'll entreat to lead me. 

Old Man. Alack, sir ! he is mad. 

Glo. 'Tis the times' plague, when madmen lead the 
blind. 

Do as I bid thee, or rather do thy pleasure; 

Above the rest, be gone. 48 

Old Man. I'll bring him the best 'parel that I have, 

Come on 't what will. Exit. 

Glo. Sirrah, naked fellow, — 

Edg. Poor Tom's a-cold. [Aside.] I cannot daub 
it further. 52 

Glo. Come hither, fellow. 
Edg. [Aside.] And yet I must. Bless thy sweet 

eyes, they bleed. 
Glo. Know'st thou the way to Dover? 55 

Edg. Both stile and gate, horse-way and foot- 
path. Poor Tom hath been scared out of his 
good wits: bless thee, good man's son, from the 
foul fiend! [Five fiends have been in poor Tom 
at once; of lust, as Obidicut; Hobbididance, 
prince of dumbness; Mahu, of stealing; Modo, 
of murder; and Flibbertigibbet, of mopping and 

52 daub: overpaint reality 

62 mopping and mowing: making grimaces 



88 King Lear, IV. ii 

mowing; who since possesses chambermaids 
and waiting-women. So, bless thee, master!] 64 
Glo. Here, take this purse, thou whom the heavens' 
plagues 
Have humbled to all strokes: that I am wretched 
Makes thee the happier : heavens, deal so still ! 
Let the superfluous and lust-dieted man, 68 

That slaves your ordinance, that will not see 
Because he doth not feel, feel your power quickly; 
So distribution should undo excess, 
And each man have enough. Dost thou know 
Dover? 72 

Edg. Ay, master. 

Glo. There is a cliff, whose high and bending head 
Looks fearfully in the confined deep; 
Bring me but to the very brim of it, 76 

And I'll repair the misery thou dost bear 
With something rich about me; from that place 
I shall no leading need. 

Edg. Give me thy arm: 

Poor Tom shall lead thee. Exeunt. 

Scene Two 
[Before the Duke of Albany's Palace'] 

Enter Goneril, Bastard [Edmund], and 
Steward [Oswald.] 

Gon. Welcome, my lord ; I marvel our mild husband 
Not met us on the way. Now, where's your master? 

Osw. Madam, within; but never man so chang'd. 
I told him of the army that was landed; 4 

He smil'd at it: I told him you were coming; 

69 slaves: makes a slave of ordinance: divine dispensation 

72 Dover; cf. n. 



King Lear, IV. ii 89 

His answer was, 'The worse:' of Gloucester's 

treachery, 
And of the loyal service of his son, 
When I inform'd him, then he call'd me sot, 8 

And told me I had turn'd the wrong side out: 
What most he should dislike seems pleasant to him; 
What like, offensive. 

Gon. [To Edmund.] Then, shall 3^011 go no further. 
It is the cowish terror of his spirit 12 

That dares not undertake; he'll not feel wrongs 
Which tie him to an answer. Our wishes on the way 
May prove effects. Back, Edmund, to my brother; 
Hasten his musters and conduct his powers: 16 

I must change arms at home, and give the distaff 
Into my husband's hands. This trusty servant 
Shall pass between us ; ere long you are like to hear, 
If you dare venture in your own behalf, 20 

A mistress's command. Wear this; spare speech; 

[Giving a favour.'] 
Decline your head: this kiss, if it durst speak, 
Would stretch thy spirits up into the air. 
Conceive, and fare thee well. 24 

Edm. Yours in the ranks of death. Exit. 

Gon. My most dear Gloucester! 

O ! the difference of man and man ! 
To thee a woman's services are due: 
My fool usurps my bed. 

Osw. Madam, here comes my lord. [Exit.] 

Enter Albany. 

Gon. I have been worth the whistle. 
Alb. O Goneril! 29 

You are not worth the dust which the rude wind 

12 cowish: easily cowed 

14 tie him to: require 29 worth the whistle; cf. n. 



90 King Lear, IF. ii 

Blows in your face. [I fear your disposition: 

That nature, which contemns its origin, 32 

Cannot be border'd certain in itself; 

She that herself will sliver and disbranch 

From her material sap, perforce must wither 

And come to deadly use. 36 

Gon. No more; the text is foolish. 

Alb. Wisdom and goodness to the vile seem vile; 
Filths savour but themselves. What have you done? 
Tigers, not daughters, what have you perform'd? 
A father, and a gracious aged man, 41 

Whose reverence the head-lugg'd bear would lick, 
Most barbarous, most degenerate ! have you madded. 
Could my good brother suffer you to do it? 44 

A man, a prince, by him so benefited ! 
If that the heavens do not their visible spirits 
Send quickly down to tame these vile offences, 
It will come, 48 

Humanity must perforce prey on itself, 
Like monsters of the deep.] 

Gon. Milk-liver'd man ! 

That bear'st a cheek for blows, a head for wrongs ; 
Who hast not in thy brows an eye discerning 52 

Thine honour from thy suffering; [that not know'st 
Fools do those villains pity who are punish'd 
Ere they have done their mischief. Where's thy 

drum? 
France spreads his banners in our noiseless land, 56 
With plumed helm thy slayer begins threats, 
Whilst thou, a moral fool, sitt'st still, and criest 
'Alack! why does he so?'] 

Alb. See thyself , devil ! 

31 fear: fear for 34 sliver: deprive of twigs 

42 head-lugg'd: led about by a muzzle 

54 Fools, etc.; cf. n. 58 moral: moralizing 



King Lear, IV. ii 9! 

Proper deformity seems not in the fiend 60 

So horrid as in woman. 

Gon. O vain fool ! 

[Alb. Thou changed and self-cover'd thing, for 
shame, 
Be-monster not thy feature. Were 't my fitness 
To let these hands obey my blood, 64 

They are apt enough to dislocate and tear 
Thy flesh and bones; howe'er thou art a fiend, 
A woman's shape doth shield thee. 

Gon. Marry, your manhood. — Mew !] 68 

Enter a Messenger. 

[Alb. What news?] 

Mess. O ! my good lord, the Duke of Cornwall's 
dead; 
Slain by his servant, going to put out 
The other eye of Gloucester. 

Alb. Gloucester's eyes! 72 

Mess. A servant that he bred, thrill'd with remorse, 
Oppos'd against the act, bending his sword 
To his great master; who, thereat enrag'd, 
Flew on him, and amongst them f ell'd him dead ; 76 
But not without that harmful stroke, which since 
Hath pluck'd him after. 

Alb. This shows you are above, 

You justicers, that these our nether crimes 
So speedily can venge ! But, O poor Gloucester ! 
Lost he his other eye? 

Mess. Both, both, my lord. 81 

This letter, madam, craves a speedy answer; 

60 Proper : that which belongs 

61 -vain: empty 62 self-cover'd: hypocritical 
63 Be-monster not thy feature: don't let your whole appearance be- 
come beastly 

65 apt: ready 73 remorse: pity 



92 King Lear, IF. Hi 

'Tis from your sister. 

Gon. [Aside.] One way I like this well; 

But being widow, and my Gloucester with her, 
May all the building in my fancy pluck S5 

Upon my hateful life; another way, 
This news is not so tart. [To Messenger.] I'll read 
and answer. [Exit.'] 

Alb. Where was his son when they did take his 
eyes ? 88 

Mess. Come with my lady hither. 

Alb. He is not here. 

Mess. No, my good lord; I met him back again. 

Alb. Knows he the wickedness? 

Mess. Ay, my good lord ; 'twas he inf orm'd against 
him, 92 

And quit the house on purpose that their punishment 
Might have the freer course. 

Alb. Gloucester, I live 

To thank thee for the love thou show'dst the king, 
And to revenge thine eyes. Come hither, friend: 
Tell me what more thou knowest. Exeunt. 

[Scene Three 
The French Camp, near Dover 
Enter Kent and a Gentleman. 

Kent. Why the King of France is so suddenly 
gone back know you the reason? 

Gent. Something he left imperfect in the 
state, which since his coming forth is thought 
of; which imports to the kingdom so much fear 
and danger, that his personal return was most 
required and necessary. 7 

Kent. Who hath he left behind him general? 



King Lear, IV. Hi 93 

Gent. The Marshal of France, Monsieur la 

Far. 

Kent. Did your letters pierce the queen to 

any demonstration of grief? 12 

Gent. Ay, sir; she took them, read them in my 
presence ; 
And now and then an ample tear trill'd down 
Her delicate cheek; it seem'd she was a queen 
Over her passion ; who, most rebel-like, 16 

Sought to be king o'er her. 

Kent. O ! then it mov'd her. 

Gent. Not to a rage; patience and sorrow strove 
Who should express her goodliest. You have seen 
Sunshine and rain at once; her smiles and tears 
Were like a better way; those happy smilets 21 

That play'd on her ripe lip seem'd not to know 
What guests were in her eyes; which parted thence, 
As pearls from diamonds dropp'd. In brief, 24 

Sorrow would be a rarity most belov'd, 
If all could so become it. 

Kent. Made she no verbal question? 

Gent. Faith, once or twice she heav'd the name of 
'father' 
Pantingly forth, as if it press'd her heart; 2S 

Cried, 'Sisters ! sisters ! Shame of ladies ! sisters ! 
Kent ! father ! sisters ! What, i' the storm ? i' the night ? 
Let pity not be believed !' There she shook 
The holy water from her heavenly eyes, 32 

And clamour-moisten'd, then away she started 
To deal with grief alone. 

Kent. It is the stars, 

The stars above us, govern our conditions ; 

16 who: which 21 better way: like sunshine and rain, but even better 

26 verbal question: oral conversation 

33 clamour-moisten'd: wet with lamentation 



94 King Lear, IV. Hi 

Else one self mate and make could not beget 36 

Such different issues. You spoke not with her since? 

Gent. No. 

Kent. Was this before the king return'd? 

Gent. No, since. 

Kent. Well, sir, the poor distress'd Lear's i' the 
town, 40 

Who sometime, in his better tune, remembers 
What we are come about, and by no means 
Will yield to see his daughter. 

Gent. Why, good sir? 

Kent. A sovereign shame so elbows him: his own 
unkindness, 44 

That stripp'd her from his benediction, turn'd her 
To foreign casualties, gave her dear rights 
To his dog-hearted daughters, — these things sting 
His mind so venomously that burning shame 
Detains him from Cordelia. 

Gent. Alack! poor gentleman. 49 

Kent. Of Albany's and Cornwall's powers you 
heard not? 

Gent. 'Tis so, they are afoot. 

Kent. Well, sir, I'll bring you to our master 
Lear, 52 

And leave you to attend him. Some dear cause 
Will in concealment wrap me up awhile; 
When I am known aright, you shall not grieve 
Lending me this acquaintance. I pray you, go 
Along with me. Exeunt.'] 

36 mate and make: husband and wife 

46 To foreign casualties: to take chances among foreigners 



King Lear, IV. iv 95 

Scene Four 

[The Same. A Tent] 

Enter with drum and colours, Cordelia, Gentlemen, 
[Doctor] and Soldiers. 

Cor. Alack! 'tis he: why, he was met even now 
As mad as the vex'd sea; singing aloud; 
Crown'd with rank fumiter and furrow weeds, 
With burdocks, hemlock, nettles, cuckoo-flowers, 
Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow 5 

In our sustaining corn. A century send forth; 
Search every acre in the high-grown field, 
And bring him to our eye. [Exit an Officer.] 

What can man's wisdom 8 
In the restoring his bereaved sense? 
He that helps him take all my outward worth. 

[Doc] There is means, madam; 
Our foster-nurse of nature is repose, 12 

The which he lacks ; that to provoke in him, 
Are many simples operative, whose power 
Will close the eye of anguish. 

Cor. All bless'd secrets, 

All you unpublish'd virtues of the earth, 16 

Spring with my tears ! be aidant and remediate 
In the good man's distress ! Seek, seek for him, 
Lest his ungovern'd rage dissolve the life 
That wants the means to lead it. 

Enter Messenger. 

Mess. News, madam; 20 

The British powers are marching hitherward. 

3 fumiter: fumitory, plant with bitter taste 

4 cuckoo-flowers: the ragged robin, a marsh plant 

5 Darnel: a weed, injurious to growing crops idle: worthless 

6 century: company of one hundred men 
14 simples: medicinal plants 

17 aidant and remediate: aiding and remedial 



96 King Lear, IV. v 

Cor. 'Tis known before; our preparation stands 
In expectation of them. O dear father! 
It is thy business that I go about; 24 

Therefore great France 

My mourning and important tears hath pitied. 
No blown ambition doth our arms incite, 
But love, dear love, and our ag'd father's right, 
Soon may I hear and see him ! Exeunt. 

Scene Five 

[Gloucester's Castle] 

Enter Regan and Steward [Oswald.'] 

Beg. But are my brother's powers set forth ? 

Osw. Ay, madam. 

Reg. Himself in person there? 

Oszv. Madam, with much ado: 

Your sister is the better soldier. 

Reg. Lord Edmund spake not with your lord at 
home ? 4 

Osw. No, madam. 

Reg. What might import my sister's letter to him? 

Osw. I know not, lady. 

Reg. Faith, he is posted hence on serious matter. 8 
It was great ignorance, Gloucester's eyes being out, 
To let him live; where he arrives he moves 
All hearts against us. Edmund, I think, is gone, 
In pity of his misery, to dispatch 12 

His nighted life; moreover, to descry 
The strength o' the enemy. 

Osw. I must needs after him, madam, with my 
letter. 

26 important: importunate 



King Lear, IV. v 97 

Reg. Our troops set forth to-morrow; stay with 

US, 16 

The ways are dangerous. 

Osw. I may not, madam; 

My lady charg'd my duty in this business. 

Reg. Why should she write to Edmund? Might 
not you 
Transport her purposes by word? Belike, 20 

Something — I know not what. I'll love thee much, 
Let me unseal the letter. 

Osw. Madam, I had rather — 

Reg. I know your lady does not love her husband; 
I am sure of that: and at her late being here 24 

She gave strange oeillades and most speaking looks 
To noble Edmund. I know you are of her bosom. 

Osw. I, madam ! 

Reg. I speak in understanding; you are, I 
know 't: 28 

Therefore I do advise j^ou, take this note: 
My lord is dead; Edmund and I have talk'd, 
And more convenient is he for my hand 
Than for your lady's. You may gather more. 32 

If you do find him, pray you, give him this, 
And when your mistress hears thus much from you, 
I pray desire her call her wisdom to her: 
So, fare you well. 36 

If you do chance to hear of that blind traitor, 
Preferment falls on him that cuts him off. 

Osw. Would I could meet him, madam: I would 
show 
What party I do follow. 

Reg. Fare thee well. Exeunt. 

25 ceillades: oglings 26 of her bosom: in her confidence 



98 King Lear, IV. vi 

Scene Six 

[The Country near Dover] 

Enter Gloucester and Edgar. 

Glo. When shall I come to the top of that same 
hill? 

Edg. You do climb up it now ; look how we labour. 

Glo. Methinks the ground is even. 

Edg. Horrible steep: 

Hark! do you hear the sea? 

Glo. No, truly. 4 

Edg. Why, then your other senses grow imperfect 
By your eyes' anguish. 

Glo. So may it be, indeed. 

Methinks thy voice is alter'd, and thou speak' st 
In better phrase and matter than thou didst. 8 

Edg. Y'are much deceived; in nothing am I chang'd 
But in my garments. 

Glo. Methinks you're better spoken. 

Edg. Come on, sir; here's the place; stand still. 
How fearful 12 

And dizzy 'tis to cast one's eyes so low ! 
The crows and choughs that wing the midway air 
Show scarce so gross as beetles; half way down 
Hangs one that gathers samphire, dreadful trade ! 16 
Methinks he seems no bigger than his head. 
The fishermen that walk upon the beach 
Appear like mice, and yond tall anchoring bark 
Diminish'd to her cock, her cock a buoy 20 

Almost too small for sight. The murmuring surge, 
That on the unnumber'd idle pebbles chafes, 

14 choughs: bird of the crow family, jackdaw 

16 samphire: samper, used for pickles 

20 cock: cock-boat 22 unnumber'd: innumerable 



King Lear, IV, vi 



99 



Cannot be heard so high. I'll look no more, 

Lest my brain turn, and the deficient sight 24 

Topple down headlong. 

Glo. Set me where you stand. 

Edg. Give me your hand ; you are now within a foot 
Of the extreme verge: for all beneath the moon 
Would I not leap upright. 

Glo. Let go my hand. 28 

Here, friend, 's another purse; in it a jewel 
Well worth a poor man's taking: fairies and gods 
Prosper it with thee! Go thou further off; 
Bid me farewell, and let me hear thee going. 32 

Edg. Now fare you well, good sir. 

Glo. With all my heart. 

Edg. Why I do trifle thus with his despair 
Is done to cure it. 

Glo. O you mighty gods ! 

This world I do renounce, and, in your sights, 36 

Shake patiently my great affliction off; 
If I could bear it longer, and not fall 
To quarrel with your great opposeless wills, 
My snuff and loathed part of nature should 40 

Burn itself out. If Edgar live, O, bless him ! 
Now, fellow, fare thee well. [He falls forward.'] 

Edg. Gone, sir: farewell. 

[Aside.] And yet I know not how conceit may rob 
The treasury of life when life itself 44 

Yields to the theft; had he been where he thought 
By this had thought been past. Alive or dead? 
[To Gloucester.] Ho, you sir! friend! Hear you, sir? 

speak ! 
Thus might he pass indeed; yet he revives. 48 

24 deficient sight: sight failing 39 opposeless: invincible 

40 snuff; cf. n. 43 conceit: imagination 



ioo King Lear, IV. vi 

What are you, sir? 

Glo. Away and let me die. 

Edg. Hadst thou been aught but gossamer, 

feathers, air, 

So many fathom down precipitating, 

Thou 'dst shiver'd like an egg; but thou dost 

breathe, 52 

Hast heavy substance, bleed'st not, speak'st, art 

sound. 
Ten masts at each make not the altitude 
Which thou hast perpendicularly fell: 
Thy life's a miracle. Speak yet again. 56 

Glo. But have I fallen or no? 

Edg. From the dread summit of this chalky bourn. 
Look up a-height; the shrill-gorg'd lark so far 
Cannot be seen or heard: do but look up. 60 

Glo. Alack! I have no eyes. 
Is wretchedness depriv'd that benefit 
To end itself by death? 'Twas yet some comfort, 
When misery could beguile the tyrant's rage, 64 

And frustrate his proud will. 

Edg. Give me your arm: 

Up : so. How is 't ? Feel you your legs ? You stand. 

Glo. Too well, too well. 

Edg. This is above all strangeness. 

Upon the crown o' the cliff, what thing was that 
Which parted from you? 

Glo. A poor unfortunate beggar. 69 

Edg. As I stood here below methought his eyes 
Were two full moons ; he had a thousand noses, 
Horns whelk'd and wav'd like the enridged sea: 
It was some fiend; therefore, thou happy father, 

54 at each: one on another 58 bourn: boundary 

59 shrill-gorg'd: high-voiced 72 whelk'd: twisted 



King Lear, IV. vi 101 

Think that the clearest gods, who make them 
honours 74 

Of men's impossibilities, have preserv'd thee. 

Glo. I do remember now; henceforth I'll bear 
Affliction till it do cry out itself 77 

'Enough, enough/ and die. That thing you speak of 
I took it for a man; often 'twould say 
'The fiend, the fiend:' he led me to that place. 

Edg. Bear free and patient thoughts. But who 
comes here? 81 

Enter Lear. 

The safer sense will ne'er accommodate 
His master thus. 

Lear. No, they cannot touch me for coining; 
I am the king himself. 85 

Edg. O thou side-piercing sight ! 

Lear. Nature's above art in that respect. 
There's your press-money. That fellow handles 
his bow like a crow-keeper: draw me a clothier's 
yard. Look, look! a mouse. Peace, peace! 
this piece of toasted cheese will do 't. There 's 
my gauntlet; I'll prove it on a giant. Bring 
up the brown bills. O! well flown, bird; i' the 
clout, i' the clout: hewgh ! Give the word. 

Edg. Sweet marjoram. 

Lear. Pass. 96 

Glo. I know that voice. 

Lear. Ha! Goneril, with a white beard! 
They flatter'd me like a dog, and told me I had 

74 clearest gods; cf. n. 82 safer: saner accommodate: equip 

88 press-money: money given to soldiers when pressed into service 

89 crow-keeper: scare-crow (?) clothier's yard: cloth-yard shaft, 
used with long bow; cf. n. 

93 brown bills: halberds, or, men carrying them 

94 clout: bull's-eye, bit of white cloth used for mark in archery 



102 King Lear, IV, vi 

white hairs in my beard ere the black ones were 
there. To say 'ay' and 'no' to everything 
I said! 'Ay' and 'no' too was no good divi- 
nity. When the rain came to wet me once and 
the wind to make me chatter, when the thunder 
would not peace at my bidding, there I found 
'em, there I smelt 'em out. Go to, they are not 
men o' their words: they told me I was every- 
thing; 'tis a lie, I am not ague-proof. 10S 
Glo. The trick of that voice I do well remember: 
Is 't not the king? 

Lear. Ay, every inch a king: 

When I do stare, see how the subject quakes. 
I pardon that man's life. What was thy cause? 112 
Adultery ? 

Thou shalt not die: die for adultery! No: 
The wren goes to 't, and the small gilded fly 
Does lecher in my sight. 116 

Let copulation thrive;' for Gloucester's bastard son 
Was kinder to his father than my daughters 
Got 'tween the lawful sheets. 

To 't luxury, pell-mell! for I lack soldiers. 120 

Behold yond simpering dame, 
Whose face between her forks presageth snow; 
That minces virtue, and does shake the head 
To hear of pleasure's name; 124 

The fitchew nor the soiled horse goes to 't 
With a more riotous appetite. 
Down from the waist they are Centaurs, 
Though women all above: 128 

But to the girdle do the gods inherit, 
Beneath is all the fiends': 

101 'ay' and 'no'; cf. n. 120 luxury: lewdness 122 forks: legs 

123 minces: makes an affected show of 
125 fitchew: polecat soiled: overfed 



King Lear, IV, vi 103 

There's hell, there's darkness, there is the sulphurous 

pit, 131 

Burning, scalding, stench, consumption; fie, fie, 
fie ! pah, pah ! Give me an ounce of civet, good 
apothecary, to sweeten my imagination: there's 
money for thee. 

Glo. O ! let me kiss that hand ! 136 

Lear. Let me wipe it first ; it smells of mortality. 
Glo. O ruin'd piece of nature ! This great world 
Shall so wear out to naught. Dost thou know me? 139 

Lear. I remember thine eyes well enough. 
Dost thou squiny at me? No, do thy worst, 
blind Cupid; I'll not love. Read thou this 
challenge; mark but the penning of it. 
Glo. Were all the letters suns, I could not see. 
Edg. [Aside.'] I would not take this from report; 

it is, 145 

And my heart breaks at it. 

Lear. Read. 

Glo. What ! with the case of eyes ? 148 

Lear. O, ho ! are you there with me ? No 
eyes in your head, nor no money in your purse? 
Your eyes are in a heavy case, your purse in a 
light: yet you see how this world goes. 152 

Glo. I see it feelingly. 

Lear. What! art mad? A man may see how 
this world goes with no eyes. Look with thine 
ears: see how yond justice rails upon yon simple 
thief. Hark, in thine ear: change places; and, 
handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the 
thief? Thou hast seen a farmer's dog bark at a 
beggar ? 160 

Glo. Ay, sir. 

141 squiny: squint 148 case: sockets 158 handy-dandy; cf. n. 



104 King Lear, IV. vi 

Lear. And the creature run from the cur? 
There thou mightst behold the great image of 
authority: a dog's obey'd in office. 164 

Thou rascal beadle, hold thy bloody hand! 
Why dost thou lash that whore? Strip thine own 

back; 
Thou hotly lust'st to use her in that kind 
For which thou whipp'st her. The usurer hangs the 

cozener. 168 

Through tatter'd clothes small vices do appear; 
Robes and furr'd gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold, 
And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks; 
Arm it in rags, a pigmy's straw doth pierce it. 
None does offend, none, I say none; I'll able 'em: 173 
Take that of me, my friend, who have the power 
To seal the accuser's lips. Get thee glass eyes; 
And, like a scurvy politician, seem 176 

To see the things thou dost not. Now, now, now, 

now; 
Pull off my boots; harder, harder; so. 

Edg. [Aside.] O! matter and impertinency mix'd; 
Reason in madness ! iso 

Lear. If thou wilt weep my fortunes, take my eyes ; 
I know thee well enough; thy name is Gloucester: 
Thou must be patient; we came crying hither: 
Thou know'st the first time that we smell the air 184 
We waul and cry. I will preach to thee: mark. 
Glo. Alack! alack the day! 

Lear. When we are born, we cry that we are come 
To this great stage of fools. This' a good block ! 
It were a delicate stratagem to shoe 189 

A troop of horse with felt; I'll put it in proof, 

173 able: be responsible for 179 impertinency: irrelevant talk 

185 waul: caterwaul 188 This': this is block: hat 



King Lear, IV. vi 105 

And when I have stol'n upon these sons-in-law, 
Then, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill ! 192 

Enter a Gentleman, [with Attendants.] 

Gent. O ! here he is ; lay hand upon him. Sir, 
Your most dear daughter — 

Lear. No rescue? What! a prisoner? I am even 
The natural fool of fortune. Use me well ; 196 

You shall have ransom. Let me have surgeons; 
I am cut to the brains. 

Gent. You shall have any thing. 

Lear. No seconds? All myself? 
Why this would make a man a man of salt, 200 

To use his eyes for garden water-pots, 
Ay, and laying autumn's dust. 

Gent. Good sir, — 

Lear. I will die bravely as a bridegroom. What ! 
I will be j ovial : come, come ; I am a king, 204 

My masters, know you that? 

Gent. You are a royal one, and we obey you. 
Lear. Then there's life in it. Nay, an you 

get it, you shall get it by running. Sa, sa, sa, sa. 

Exit. [Attendants follow.] 

Gent. A sight most pitiful in the meanest 

wretch, 209 

Past speaking of in a king ! Thou hast one daughter, 

Who redeems nature from the general curse 

Which twain have brought her to. 212 

Edg. Hail, gentle sir ! 

Gent. Sir, speed you: what's your will? 

Edg. Do you hear aught, sir, of a battle toward? 

Gent. Most sure and vulgar; every one hears that, 
Which can distinguish sound. 

215 vulgar: common 



106 King Lear, IV. vi 

Edg. But, by your favour, 216 

How near's the other army? 

Gent. Near, and on speedy foot; the main descry 
Stands on the hourly thought. 

Edg. I thank you, sir: that's all. 

Gent. Though that the queen on special cause is 

here, 220 

Her army is mov'd on. Exit. 

Edg. I thank you, sir. 

Glo. You ever-gentle gods, take my breath from 
me: 
Let not my worser spirit tempt me again 
To die before you please ! 

Edg. Well pray you, father. 224 

Glo. Now, good sir, what are you? 

Edg. A most poor man, made tame to fortune's 
blows ; 
Who, by the art of known and feeling sorrows, 
Am pregnant to good pity. Give me your hand, 
I'll lead you to some biding. 

Glo. Hearty thanks: 229 

The bounty and the benison of heaven 
To boot, and boot! 

Enter Steward [Oswald.'] 

Osw. A proclaim'd prize ! Most happy ! 

That eyeless head of thine was first fram'd flesh 
To raise my fortunes. Thou old unhappy traitor, 233 
Briefly thyself remember: the sword is out 
That must destroy thee. 

Glo. Now let thy friendly hand 

Put strength enough to 't. [Edgar interposes.'] 

Osw. Wherefore, bold peasant, 236 

218 main descry, etc.; cf. n. 228 pregnant: ready, receptive 

229 biding: abiding-place 231 To boot, and boot: over and over 



King Lear, IV. vi 107 

Dar'st thou support a publish'd traitor? Hence; 
Lest that infection of his fortune take 
Like hold on thee. Let go his arm. 

Edg. Chill not let go, zur, without vurther 
'casion. 241 

Osw. Let go, slave, or thou diest. 
Edg. Good gentleman, go your gait, and let 
poor volk pass. An chud ha' bin zwaggered 
out of my life, 'twould not ha' bin zo long as 
'tis by a vortnight. Nay, come not near th' old 
man; keep out, che vor ye, or ise try whether 
your costard or my ballow be the harder. Chill 
be plain with you. 249 

Osw. Out, dunghill! 

Edg. Chill pick your teeth, zur. Come; no 
matter vor your foins. 252 

[They fight and Edgar knocks him down.'] 
Osw. Slave, thou hast slain me. Villain, take my 
purse. 
If ever thou wilt thrive, bury my body; 
And give the letters which thou find'st about me 
To Edmund Earl of Gloucester; seek him out 
Upon the English party: O! untimely death. 257 

[Dies.] 
Edg. I know thee well: a serviceable villain; 
As duteous to the vices of thy mistress 
As badness would desire. 

Glo. What! is he dead? 260 

Edg. Sit you down, father; rest you. 
Let's see his pockets: these letters that he speaks of 
May be my friends. He's dead; I am only sorry 
He had no other deaths-man. Let us see : 264 

240 chill : I zvill 244 An chud : if I should 247 che vor ye: J warn you 
248 costard: apple, used jokingly for head ballow: stick 

252 foins: thrusts 



108 King Lear, IV. vi 

Leave, gentle wax; and, manners, blame us not: 
To know our enemies' minds, we'd rip their hearts ; 
Their papers, is more lawful. 

"Let our reciprocal vows be remembered. You 
have many opportunities to cut him off; if 
your will want not, time and place will be 
fruitfully offered. There is nothing done if he 
return the conqueror; then am I the prisoner, 
and his bed my gaol; from the loathed warmth 
whereof deliver me, and supply the place for 
your labour. 

Your — wife, so I would say — 276 

Affectionate servant, 

Goneril." 
O undistinguish'd space of woman's will! 
A plot upon her virtuous husband's life, 280 

And the exchange my brother ! Here, in the sands, 
Thee I'll rake up, the post unsanctified 
Of murderous lechers'; and in the mature time 
With this ungracious paper strike the sight 284 

Of the death-practis'd duke. For him 'tis well 
That of thy death and business I can tell. 

Glo. The king is mad: how stiff is my vile sense, 
That I stand up, and have ingenious feeling 288 

Of my huge sorrows ! Better I were distract: 
So should my thoughts be sever'd from my griefs, 
And woes by wrong imaginations lose 
The knowledge of themselves. [Drums afar.] 

Edg. Give me your hand ! 292 

Far off, methinks, I hear the beaten drum. 
Come, father, I'll bestow you with a friend. 

Exeunt. 

265 Leave : give leave 277 servant: lov er 

279 undistinguish'd space: incalculable scope 282 rake up: cover 

285 death-practis'd: mortally plotted against 288 ingenious: conscious 



King Lear, IV. vii 109 

Scene Seven 

[A Tent in the French Camp'] 

Enter Cordelia, Kent, and Gentleman [Doctor.] 

Cor. O thou good Kent ! how shall I live and work 
To match thy goodness ? My life will be too short, 
And every measure fail me. 

Kent. To be acknowledg'd, madam, is o'erpaid. 4 
All my reports go with the modest truth, 
Nor more nor clipp'd, but so. 

Cor. Be better suited: 

These weeds are memories of those worser hours: 
I prithee, put them off. 

Kent. Pardon me, dear madam; 8 

Yet to be known shortens my made intent: 
My boon I make it that you know me not 
Till time and I think meet. 

Cor. Then be 't so, my good lord. — [To the 
Doctor.] How does the king? 12 

[Doc] Madam, sleeps still. 

Cor. O you kind gods, 
Cure this great breach in his abused nature ! 
The untun'd and jarring senses, O! wind up 16 

Of this child-changed father ! 

[Doc] So please your majesty 

That we may wake the king? he hath slept long. 

Cor. Be govern'd by your knowledge, and proceed 
I* the sway of your own will. Is he array'd? 20 

Enter Lear in a chair carried by Servants. 

Gent. Ay, madam; in the heaviness of sleep, 
We put fresh garments on him. 

6 suited: dressed 7 weeds: clothes 9 made intent: fixed purpose 
17 child-changed: change due to daughters' behavior 



no King Lear, IV. vii 

[Doc] Be by, good madam, when we do awake 
him; 
I doubt not of his temperance. 

Cor. Very well. [Music.'] 

\_Doc.~] Please you, draw near. Louder the music 
there. 25 

Cor. O my dear father! Restoration, hang 
Thy medicine on my lips, and let this kiss 
Repair those violent harms that my two sisters 
Have in thy reverence made! 

Kent. Kind and dear princess ! 29 

Cor. Had you not been their father, these white 
flakes 
Had challeng'd pity of them. Was this a face 
To be expos'd against the warring winds? 32 

[To stand against the deep dread-bolted thunder? 
In the most terrible and nimble stroke 
Of quick cross lightning? to watch — poor perdu! — 
With this thin helm?] Mine enemy's dog, 36 

Though he had bit me, should have stood that night 
Against my fire. And wast thou fain, poor father, 
To hovel thee with swine and rogues forlorn, 
In short and musty straw ? Alack, alack ! 40 

'Tis wonder that thy life and wits at once 
Had not concluded all. He wakes ; speak to him. 

[Doc.~\ Madam, do you; 'tis fittest. 

Cor. How does my royal lord? How fares your 
maj esty ? 44 

Lear. You do me wrong to take me out o' the 
grave ; 
Thou art a soul in bliss ; but I am bound 
Upon a wheel of fire, that mine own tears 
Do scald like molten lead. 

35 perdu: soldier placed in a forlorn hope 42 all: entirely 



King Lear, IV, vii * * 1 

Cor. Sir, do you know me ? 4S 

Lear. You are a spirit, I know; when did you die? 

Cor. Still, still, far wide. 

[Doc] He's scarce awake; let him alone awhile. 

Lear. Where have I been? Where am I? Fair 
day-light ? 52 

I am mightily abus'd. I should even die with pity 
To see another thus. I know not what to say. 
I will not swear these are my hands : let's see ; 
I feel this pin prick. Would I were assur'd 56 

Of my condition ! 

Cor. O ! look upon me, sir, 

And hold your hands in benediction o'er me. 
No, sir, you must not kneel. 

Lear. Pray, do not mock me: 

I am a very foolish fond old man, 60 

Fourscore and upward, not an hour more or less; 
And, to deal plainly, 
I fear I am not in my perfect mind. 
Methinks I should know you and know this man ; 64 
Yet I am doubtful: for I am mainly ignorant 
What place this is, and all the skill I have 
Remembers not these garments; nor I know not 
Where I did lodge last night. Do not laugh at me; 68 
For, as I am a man, I think this lady 
To be my child Cordelia. 

Cor. And so I am, I am. 

Lear. Be your tears wet? Yes, faith. I pray, 
weep not: 
If you have poison for me, I will drink it. 72 

I know you do not love me ; for your sisters 
Have, as I do remember, done me wrong: 
You have some cause, they have not. 

65 mainly: mightily 



112 King Lear, IV. vii 

Cor. No cause, no cause. 

Lear. Am I in France? 

Kent. In your own kingdom, sir. 

Lear. Do not abuse me. 77 

[Doc.'] Be comforted, good madam; the great rage, 
You see, is kill'd in him; and yet it is danger 
To make him even o'er the time he has lost. 80 

Desire him to go in; trouble him no more 
Till further settling. 

Cor. Will 't please your highness walk? 
Lear. You must bear with me. 

Pray you now, forget and forgive: I am old and 
foolish. Exeunt [Lear, Cordelia, Doctor, 

and Attendants.'] 
[Gent. Holds it true, sir, that the Duke of 
Cornwall was so slain? 
Kent. Most certain, sir. 

Gent. Who is conductor of his people? 88 

Kent. As 'tis said, the bastard son of Gloucester. 
Gent. They say Edgar, his banished son, is 
with the Earl of Kent in Germany. 

Kent. Report is changeable. 'Tis time to 
look about; the powers of the kingdom 
approach apace. 94 

Gent. The arbitrement is like to be bloody. 

Fare you well, sir. [Exit.] 

Kent. My point and period will be throughly 

wrought, 97 

Or well or ill, as this day's battle's fought.] [Exit.] 

80 even o'er, etc. : fill in the chasm in his memory 
95 arbitrement: process of decision 



King Lear, V.i 1 1 3 

ACT FIFTH 

Scene One 

[The British Camp near Dover] 

Enter, with drum and colours, Edmund, Regan, 
Gentlemen, and Soldiers. 

Edm. Know of the duke if his last purpose hold, 
Or whether since he is advis'd by aught 
To change the course; he 's full of alteration 
And self-reproving; bring his constant pleasure. 

[To one, who goes out."] 

Reg. Our sister's man is certainly miscarried. 

Edm. 'Tis to be doubted, madam. 

Reg. Now, sweet lord, 

You know the goodness I intend upon you: 
Tell me, but truly, but then speak the truth, 8 

Do you not love my sister? 

Edm. In honour'd love. 

Reg. But have you never found my brother's way 
To the foref ended place? 

[Edm. That thought abuses you* 

Reg. I am doubtful that you have been con- 
junct 12 
And bosom'd with her, as far as we call hers.] 

Edm. No, by mine honour, madam. 

Reg. I never shall endure her: dear my lord, 
Be not familiar with her. 

Edm. Fear me not. 16 

She and the duke her husband! 

4 constant: settled 6 doubted: feared 

11 foref ended: forbidden 13 as far, etc.; cf. n. 



i 1 * King Lear, V. i 

Enter with drum and colours, Albany, 
Goneril, Soldiers. 

[Gon. [Aside. ,] I had rather lose the battle than 
that sister 
Should loosen him and me.] 

Alb. Our very loving sister, well be-met. 20 

Sir, this I heard, the king is come to his daughter, 
With others ; whom the rigour of our state 
Forc'd to cry out. [Where I could not be honest 
I never yet was valiant: for this business, 24 

It toucheth us, as France invades our land, 
Not bolds the king, with others, whom, I fear, 
Most just and heavy causes make oppose. 

Edm. Sir, you speak nobly.] 

Reg. Why is this reason'd? 28 

Gon. Combine together 'gainst the enemy; 
For these domestic and particular broils 
Are not the question here. 

Alb. Let's then determine 

With the ancient of war on our proceeding. 32 

Edm. I shall attend you presently at your tent. 

Reg. Sister, you'll go with us? 

Gon. No. 

Reg. 'Tis most convenient; pray you, go with us. 36 

Gon. [A side. 1 O, ho ! I know the riddle. [Aloud.] 
I will go. Exeunt both the Armies. 

Enter Edgar. 

Edg. If e'er your Grace had speech with man so 
poor, 
Hear me one word. 

26 bolds; cf. n. 28 reason'd: discussed 

32 ancient; cf. n. 34 us: me 36 convenient: proper 

37 riddle: the anszver to the riddle 



King Lear, V.i us 

Alb. I'll overtake you. Speak. 

[Exeunt Edmund, Regan, Goneril."] 

Edg. Before you fight the battle, ope this letter. 40 
If you have victory, let the trumpet sound 
For him that brought it: wretched though I seem, 
I can produce a champion that will prove 
What is avouched there. If you miscarry, 44 

Your business of the world hath so an end, 
And machination ceases. Fortune love you] 

Alb. Stay till I have read the letter. 

Edg. I was forbid it. 

When time shall serve, let but the herald cry, 48 

And I'll appear again. Exit. 

Alb. Why, fare thee well: I will o'erlook thy paper. 

Enter Edmund. 

Edm. The enemy's in view; draw up your powers. 
Here is the guess of their true strength and forces 52 
By diligent discovery; but your haste 
Is now urg'd on you. 

Alb. We will greet the time. Exit. 

Edm. To both these sisters have I sworn my love; 
Each jealous of the other, as the stung 56 

Are of the adder. Which of them shall I take? 
Both? one? or neither? Neither can be enjoy'd 
If both remain alive: to take the widow 
Exasperates, makes mad her sister Goneril; 60 

And hardly shall I carry out my side, 
Her husband being alive. Now then, we'll use 
His countenance for the battle; which being done 
Let her who would be rid of him devise 64 

His speedy taking off. As for the mercy 

44 avouched: asserted 53 discovery: reconnoitring 

54 time: occasion 56 jealous: suspicious 



U6 King Lear, V. ii 

Which he intends to Lear, and to Cordelia, 
The battle done, and they within our power, 
Shall never see his pardon; for my state 68 

Stands on me to defend, not to debate. Exit. 

Scene Two 

[A Field between the two Camps] 

Alarum within. Enter, with drum and colours, Lear, 
Cordelia, and Soldiers, over the stage, and 
exeunt. Enter Edgar and Gloucester. 

Edg. Here, father, take the shadow of this tree 
For your good host; pray that the right may thrive. 
If ever I return to you again, 
I'll bring you comfort. 

Glo. Grace go with you, sir! 4 

[Exit Edgar. 1 
Alarum and Retreat Within. Enter Edgar. 
Edg. Away, old man ! give me thy hand : away ! 
King Lear hath lost, he and his daughter ta'en. 
Give me thy hand; come on. 

Glo. No further, sir ; a man may rot even here. 8 
Edg. What! in ill thoughts again? Men must 
endure 
Their going hence, even as their coming hither: 
Ripeness is all. Come on. 

Glo. And that's true too. 

Exeunt. 

68 Shall : they shall 11 Ripeness: readiness 



King Lear, V. Hi H7 

Scene Three 

[The British Camp, near Dover"] 

Enter, in conquest, with drum and colours, Edmund; 
Lear and Cordelia as prisoners, Soldiers, Cap- 
tain. 

Edm. Some officers take them away : good guard, 
Until their greater pleasures first be known 
That are to censure them. 

Cor. We are not the first 

Who, with best meaning, have incurr'd the worst. 4 
For thee, oppressed king, am I cast down; 
Myself could else out-frown false Fortune's frown. 
Shall we not see these daughters and these sisters ? 

(Lear. No, no, no, no! Come, let's away to 
prison ; 8 

We two alone will sing like birds i' the cage : 
When thou dost ask me blessing, I'll kneel down, 
And ask of thee forgiveness: so we'll live, 
And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh 12 
At gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues 
Talk of court news ; and we'll talk with them too, 
Who loses and who wins ; who's in, who's out ; 
And take upon 's the mystery of things, 16 

As if we were God's spies : and we'll wear out, 
In a wall'd prison, packs and sets of great ones 
That ebb and flow by the moon. 

Edm. Take them away. 

Lear. Upon such sacrifices, my Cordelia, 20 

The gods themselves throw incense. Have I caught 

thee? 
He that parts us shall bring a brand from heaven, 

1 good guard: guard them well 



1 1 8 King Lear, V. Hi 

And fire us hence like foxes. Wipe thine eyes; 

The good years shall devour them, flesh and fell, 24 

Ere they shall make us weep: we'll see 'em starve 

first, 
Come. [Exeunt Lear and Cordelia, guarded.'] 

Edm. Come hither, captain ; hark, 
Take thou this note; [Giving a paper.] go follow them 

to prison: 28 

One step I have advanc'd thee; if thou dost 
As this instructs thee, thou dost make thy way 
To noble fortunes ; know thou this, that men 
Are as the time is ; to be tender-minded 32 

Does not become a sword; thy great employment 
Will not bear question ; either say thou'lt do 't, 
Or thrive by other means. 

Capt. I'll do 't, my lord. 

Edm. About it; and write happy when thou hast 

done. 36 

Mark, — I say, instantly, and carry it so 
As I have set it down. 

[Capt. I cannot draw a cart nor eat dried oats; 
If it be man's work I will do it.] Exit Captain. 

Flourish. Enter Albany, Goneril, Regan, Soldiers. 

Alb. Sir, you have show'd to-day your valiant 
strain, 41 

And fortune led you well ; you have the captives 
Who were the opposites of this day's strife ; 
We do require them of you, so to use them 44 

As we shall find their merits and our safety 
May equally determine. 

Edm. Sir, I thought it fit 

To send the old and miserable king 

24 good years; cf. n. fell: skin 36 write happy: call yourself lucky 



King Lear, V. in U9 

To some retention, and appointed guard ; 48 

Whose age has charms in it, whose title more, 

To pluck the common bosom on his side, 

And turn our impress'd lances in our eyes 

Which do command them. With him I sent the 

queen ; 52 

My reason all the same; and they are ready 
To-morrow, or at further space, to appear 
Where you shall hold your session. [At this time 
We sweat and bleed; the friend hath lost his 

friend, 56 

And the best quarrels, in the heat, are curs'd 
By those that feel their sharpness ; 
The question of Cordelia and her father 
Requires a fitter place.] 

Alb. Sir, by your patience, 60 

I hold you but a subject of this war, 
Not as a brother. 

Reg. That's as we list to grace him: 

Methinks our pleasure might have been demanded, 
Ere you had spoke so far. He led our powers, 64 
Bore the commission of my place and person; 
The which immediacy may well stand up, 
And call itself your brother. 

Gon. Not so hot; 

In his own grace he doth exalt himself 68 

More than in your addition. 

Reg. In my rights, 

By me invested, he compeers the best. 

Gon. That were the most, if he should husband you. 

Reg. Jesters do oft prove prophets. 

48 retention: detention 51 impress'd: enlisted 

63 demanded: requested 

66 immediacy: sovereignty 70 compeers: equals 



120 King Lear, V. Hi 

Gon. Holla, holla! 72 

That eye that told you so look'd but a-squint. 

Reg. Lady, I am not well; else I should answer 
From a full-flowing stomach. General, 
Take thou my soldiers, prisoners, patrimony; 76 

Dispose of them, of me; the walls are thine; 
Witness the world, that I create thee here 
My lord and master. 

Gon. Mean you to enjoy him? 

Alb. The let-alone lies not in your good will. so 

Edm. Nor in thine, lord. 

Alb. Half -blooded fellow, yes. 

Reg. [To Edmund.'] Let the drum strike, and 
prove my title thine. 

Alb. Stay yet; hear reason. Edmund, I arrest thee 
On capital treason; and, in thy arrest, S4 

This gilded serpent. [Pointing to Goneril.] For your 

claim, fair sister, 
I bar it in the interest of my wife; 
'Tis she is sub-contracted to this lord, 
And I, her husband, contradict your bans. 88 

If you will marry, make your love to me, 
My lady is bespoke. 

Gon. An interlude! 

Alb. Thou art arm'd, Gloucester; let the trumpet 
sound : 
If none appear to prove upon thy person 92 

Thy heinous, manifest, and many treasons, 
There is my pledge; [Throws down a glove.] I'll 

prove it on thy heart, 
Ere I taste bread, thou art in nothing less 
Than I have here proclaim'd thee. 

75 stomach : passion 

77 walls: figuratively, including all my possessions 

80 let-alone: power to permit or hinder 90 interlude: farce 



King Lear, V. Hi 121 

Reg. Sick ! O sick ! 96 

Gon. [Aside.] If not, I'll ne'er trust medicine. 
Edm. There's my exchange: [Throws down a 
glove.] what in the world he is 
That names me traitor, villain-like he lies. 
Call by thy trumpet: he that dares approach, 
On him, on you, who not? I will maintain 103 

My truth and honour firmly. 
Alb. A herald, ho! 

E dm. A herald, ho ! a herald ! 

Alb. Trust to thy single virtue; for thy sol- 
diers, 104 
All levied in my name, have in my name 
Took their discharge. 

Reg. My sickness grows upon me. 

Alb. She is not well; convey her to my tent. 

[Exit Regan, led.] 
Come hither, herald, 

Enter a Herald. 

Let the trumpet sound, — 108 
And read out this. 

Capt. Sound, trumpet! A trumpet sounds. 

Herald reads. 
"If any man of quality or degree within 
the lists of the army will maintain upon 
Edmund, supposed Earl of Gloucester, that he 
is a manifold traitor, let him appear at the 
third sound of the trumpet. He is bold in his 
defence." no 

Edm. Sound! 1 Trumpet. 

Her. Again ! 2 Trumpet. 

Her. Again ! 8 Trumpet. 

Trumpet answers within. 

104 virtue: valor 



122 King Lear, V. in 

Enter Edgar, armed. 

Alb. Ask him his purposes, why he appears 
Upon this call o' the trumpet. 

Her. What are you? 121 

Your name? your quality? and why you answer 
This present summons? 

Edg. Know, my name is lost; 

By treason's tooth bare-gnawn and canker-bit: 
Yet am I noble as the adversary 125 

I come to cope. 

Alb. Which is that adversary? 

Edg. What's he that speaks for Edmund Earl of 
Gloucester ? 

Edm. Himself: what sayst thou to him? 

Edg. Draw thy sword, 128 

That, if my speech offend a noble heart, 
Thy arm may do thee justice; here is mine: 
Behold, it is the privilege of mine honours, 
My oath, and my profession : I protest, 132 

Maugre thy strength, youth, place, and eminence, 
Despite thy victor sword and fire-new fortune, 
Thy valour and thy heart, thou art a traitor, 
False to thy gods, thy brother, and thy father, 
Conspirant 'gainst this high illustrious prince, 
And, from the extremest upward of thy head 
To the descent and dust below thy foot, 
A most toad-spotted traitor. Say thou 'No,' 140 

This sword, this arm, and my best spirits are bent 
To prove upon thy heart, whereto I speak, 
Thou liest. 

Edm. In wisdom I should ask thy name ; 

124 canker-bit: worm-eaten 126 cope: meet 

133 Maugre: despite 139 descent and dust: lowest dust 



King Lear, V. Hi 123 

But since thy outside looks so fair and war-like, 
And that thy tongue some say of breeding 
breathes, 145 

What safe and nicely I might well delay 
By rule of knighthood, I disdain and spurn; 
Back do I toss these treasons to thy head, 148 

With the hell-hated lie o'erwhelm thy heart, 
Which, for they yet glance by and scarcely bruise, 
This sword of mine shall give them instant way, 
Where they shall rest for ever. Trumpets, speak ! 152 
Alarums. Fights. [Edmund falls.'] 

Alb. Save him, save him! 

Gon. This is practice, Gloucester: 

By the law of arms thou wast not bound to answer 
An unknown opposite; thou art not vanquish'd, 
But cozen'd and beguil'd. 

Alb. Shut your mouth, dame, 156 

Or with this paper shall I stop it. Hold, sir; 
Thou worse than any name, read thine own evil: 
No tearing, lady; I perceive you know it. 

[Gives the letter to Edmund."] 

Gon. Say, if I do, the laws are mine, not thine : 160 
Who can arraign me for 't? Exit. 

Alb. Most monstrous ! 

Know'st thou this paper? 

Edm. Ask me not what I know. 

Alb. Go after her: she's desperate; govern her. 

[Exit an Officer.] 

Edm. What you have charg'd me with, that have 
I done, 164 

And more, much more ; the time will bring it out : 
'Tis past, and so am I. But what art thou 

145 say: assay 146 safe and nicely: with secure scruple 



124 King Lear, V. Hi 

That hast this fortune on me? If thou'rt noble, 
I do forgive thee. 

Edg. Let's exchange charity. 168 

I am no less in blood than thou art, Edmund; 
If more, the more thou hast wrong' d me. 
My name is Edgar, and thy father's son. 
The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices 172 

Make instruments to plague us : 
The dark and vicious place where thee he got 
Cost him his eyes. 

Edm. Thou hast spoken right, 'tis true; 

The wheel is come full circle; I am here. 176 

Alb. Methought thy very gait did prophesy 
A royal nobleness: I must embrace thee: 
Let sorrow split my heart, if ever I 
Did hate thee or thy father. 

Edg. Worthy prince, I know 't. ISO 

Alb. Where have you hid yourself? 
How have you known the miseries of your father ? 

Edg. By nursing them, my lord. List a brief tale; 
And, when 'tis told, O ! that my heart would burst ! 184 
The bloody proclamation to escape 
That follow'd me so near, — O ! our lives' sweetness, 
That we the pain of death would hourly die 
Rather than die at once ! — taught me to shift 188 

Into a madman's rags, to assume a semblance 
That very dogs disdain'd: and in this habit 
Met I my father with his bleeding rings, 
Their precious stones new lost; became his guide, 192 
Led him, begg'd for him, sav'd him from despair; 
Never, — O fault! — reveal'd myself unto him, 
Until some half hour past, when I was arm'd; 
Not sure, though hoping, of this good success, 

176 wheel; cf. n. 191 rings: eye-sockets 



King Lear, V. Hi 125 

I ask'd his blessing, and from first to last 197 

Told him my pilgrimage : but his flaw'd heart, — 
Alack ! too weak the conflict to support ; 
'Twixt two extremes of passion, joy and grief, 
Burst smilingly. 

Edm. This speech of yours hath mov'd me, 
And shall perchance do good; but speak you on; 202 
You look as you had something more to say. 

Alb. If there be more, more woeful, hold it in; 
For I am almost ready to dissolve, 205 

Hearing of this. 

[Edg. This would have seem'd a period 

To such as love not sorrow; but another, 
To amplify too much, would make much more, 
And top extremity. 209 

Whilst I was big in clamour came there a man, 
Who, having seen me in my worst estate, 
Shunn'd my abhorr'd society; but then, finding 
Who 'twas that so endur'd, with his strong arms 
He fasten'd on my neck, and bellow'd out 
As he'd burst heaven; threw him on my father; 
Told the most piteous tale of Lear and him 216 

That ever ear receiv'd; which in recounting 
His grief grew puissant, and the strings of life 
Began to crack: twice then the trumpet sounded, 
And there I left him tranc'd. 

Alb. But who was this? 220 

Edg. Kent, sir, the banish'd Kent; who in disguise 
Follow'd his enemy king, and did him service 
Improper for a slave.] 

Enter a Gentleman [with a bloody hnife.~\ 

Gent. Help, help ! O help ! 

209 top extremity: exceed the limit of endurance 



126 King Lear, V. Hi 

Edg. What kind of help ? 

Alb. Speak, man. 224 

Edg. What means that bloody knife? 

Gent. 'Tis hot, it smokes; 

It came even from the heart of — O ! she's dead. 

Alb. Who dead? speak, man. 

Gent. Your lady, sir, your lady: and her sister 228 
By her is poison'd; she confesses it. 

Edm. I was contracted to them both : all three 
Now marry in an instant. 

Edg. Here comes Kent. 

Enter Kent. 

Alb. Produce the bodies, be they alive or dead: 232 
This judgment of the heavens, that makes us tremble, 
Touches us not with pity. 

O ! is this he ? 
The time will not allow the compliment 
Which very manners- urges. 

Kent. I am come 236 

To bid my king and master aye good-night; 
Is he not here? 

Alb. Great thing of us forgot! 

Speak, Edmund, where's the king? and where's Cor- 
delia ? 
Seest thou this object, Kent? 240 

Goneril and Regan's bodies brought out. 

Kent. Alack! why thus? 

Edm. Yet Edmund was belov'd: 

The one the other poison'd for my sake, 
And after slew herself. 

Alb. Even so. Cover their faces. 244 

Edm. I pant for life: some good I mean to do 
Despite of mine own nature. Quickly send, 



King Lear, V. Hi 127 

Be brief in it, to the castle; for my writ 

Is on the life of Lear and on Cordelia. 248 

Nay, send in time. 

Alb. Run, run! O run! 

Edg. To whom, my lord ? Who has the office ? send 
Thy token of reprieve. 

Edm. Well thought on: take my sword, 252 

Give it the captain. 

Alb. Haste thee, for thy life. 

[Exit Edgar. ] 

Edm. He hath commission from my wife and me 
To hang Cordelia in the prison, and 
To lay the blame upon her own despair, 256 

That she fordid herself. 

Alb. The gods defend her ! Bear him hence awhile. 

[Edmund is borne off.'] 

Enter Lear, with Cordelia in his arms; [Edgar, 
Captain, and Others.] 

Lear. Howl, howl, howl, howl ! O ! you are men 
of stones: 
Had I your tongues and eyes, I'd use them so 
That heaven's vault should crack. She's gone for 
ever. 261 

I know when one is dead, and when one lives ; 
She's dead as earth. Lend me a looking-glass ; 
If that her breath will mist or stain the stone, 
Why, then she lives. 

Kent. Is this the promis'd end? 265 

Edg. Or image of that horror? 

Alb. Fall and cease? 

Lear. This feather stirs ; she lives ! if it be so, 

257 f ordid : sle w 265 end: judgment day 



128 King Lear, V. Hi 

It is a chance which does redeem all sorrows 268 

That ever I have felt. 

Kent. O, my good master! 

Lear. Prithee, away. 

Edg. 'Tis noble Kent, your friend. 

Lear. A plague upon you, murderers, traitors all! 
I might have sav'd her ; now, she's gone for ever ! 
Cordelia, Cordelia! stay a little. Ha! 273 

What is 't thou sayst? Her voice was ever soft. 
Gentle and low, an excellent thing in woman. 
I kill'd the slave that was a hanging thee. 276 

Capt. 'Tis true, my lord, he did. 

Lear. Did I not, fellow? 

I have seen the day, with my good biting falchion 
I would have made them skip: I am old now, 
And these same crosses spoil me. Who are you? 
Mine eyes are not o' the best: I'll tell you 
straight. ■ 281 

Kent. If fortune brag of two she lov'd and hated, 
One of them we behold. 

Lear. This is a dull sight. Are you not Kent ? 

Kent. The same, 2S4 

Your servant Kent. Where is your servant Caius? 

Lear. He's a good fellow, I can tell you that ; 
He'll strike, and quickly too. He's dead and rotten. 

Kent. No, my good lord; I am the very man — 288 

Lear. I'll see that straight. 

Kent. That, from your first of difference and 
decay, 
Have follow'd your sad steps. 

Lear. You are welcome hither. 

280 crosses: perversities, troubles 

284 sight: referring to his power of vision 

290 first of difference: first perversity 



King Lear, V. Hi 129 

Kent. Nor no man else; all's cheerless, dark, and 
deadly : 292 

Your eldest daughters have fordone themselves, 
And desperately are dead. 

Lear. Ay, so I think. 

Alb. He knows not what he says, and vain it is 
That we present us to him. 

Edg. Very bootless. 296 

Enter a Messenger. 

Mess. Edmund is dead, my lord. 

Alb. That's but a trifle here. 

You lords and noble friends, know our intent ; 
What comfort to this great decay may come 
Shall be applied: for us, we will resign, 300 

During the life of this old majesty, 
To him our absolute power: — [To Edgar and Kent.'] 

You, to your rights; 
With boot and such addition as your honours 
Have more than merited. All friends shall taste 
The wages of their virtue, and all foes 305 

The cup of their deservings. O ! see, see ! 

Lear. And my poor fool is hang'd! No, no, no 
life! 
Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life, 308 

And thou no breath at all? Thou'lt come no more, 
Never, never, never, never, never ! 
Pray you, undo this button: thank you, sir. 
Do you see this? Look on her, look, her lips, 312 
Look there, look there ! He dies. 

Edg. He faints ! — my lord, my lord ! 

Kent. Break, heart; I prithee, break. 

Edg. Look up, my lord. 

307 fool: referring, with intimate tenderness, to Cordelia 



130 King Lear, V. Hi 

Kent. Vex not his ghost : O ! let him pass ; he hates 
him 
That would upon the rack of this tough world 
Stretch him out longer. 

Edg. He is gone, indeed. 317 

Kent. The wonder is he hath endur'd so long: 
He but usurp'd his life. 

Alb. Bear them from hence. Our present busi- 
ness 320 
Is general woe. [To Kent and Edgar. ,] Friends of my 

soul, you twain 
Rule in this realm, and the gor'd state sustain. 
Kent. I have a journey, sir, shortly to go; 
My master calls me, I must not say no. 324 

Alb. The weight of this sad time we must obey; 
Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say. 
The oldest hath borne most: we that are young, 
Shall never see so much, nor live so long. 328 

Exeunt, with a dead march. 

319 usurp'd: retained by violence 

FINIS 



NOTES 

I. i. 55. Where nature doth with merit challenge. 
'Where inherent goodness vies with moral growth/ 
i.e., virtue developed by training. If, on the other 
hand, challenge means demand, then with merit 
would be an adverbial phrase qualifying challenge, 
and the whole expression would mean 'Where inherent 
goodness deservedly demands our largest bounty.' I 
prefer the former interpretation. 

I. i. 76. precious square of sense. 'The most sensi- 
tive test by which I can appreciate joy.' 

I. i. 151. Reserve thy state. 'Reserve everything, 
rank, dignity, plenary power.' 

I. i. 190. old course. Although old, Kent will 
begin life again in a new country. Or perhaps shape 
his old course means 'be his old self/ 

I. i. 271. wash'd eyes. I do not think Cordelia is 
weeping. She means her eyes are clear, and see the 
truth about her sisters. 

I. i. 282. want. 'You well deserve the lack of 
affection that you have lacked yourself.' 

I. ii. 109. wind me into him. Get into his confi- 
dence. 

I. ii. 145. dragon s tail. Referring to the position 
of the moon with relation to the constellation Draco. 

I. ii. 153. Fa, sol, la, mi. This is mere trolling 
nonsense, based on the notes of the musical scale. 

I. iii. 21. With checks as flatteries, when they are 
seen abus'd. Abus'd means deceived, and they refers 
to old men. 

I. iv. 18. To eat no fish. This probably refers to 
the Protestants, who, in order to show their hatred 
for the Catholics and their support of the English 
Government, made a parade of eating no fish at all. 
See Marston's play, The Dutch Courtezan, I. ii. 'I 



132 King Lear 

trust I am none of the wicked that eate fish a Fri- 
daies.' There was a proverb, 'He's an honest man, 
and eats no fish.' 

I. iv. 95. football. Football was a rough game for 
rough lads, not regarded as a gentleman's sport. 

I. iv. 127. A pestilent gall to me! Probably refers, 
not to Oswald, as most commentators think, but to the 
Fool, who is continually reminding Lear of his folly. 

I. iv. 136. Learn more than thou trowest. Trowest 
may mean believest in the sense of accept; but it 
probably means knowest. The precept is, 'never be 
satisfied with the present state of your knowledge, 
but strive ever to learn more than you already know.' 

I. iv. 168. if I had a monopoly out. This alludes 
to a common commercial abuse in Shakespeare's time. 
Individuals or companies were granted the exclusive 
right to trade in various commodities (as wine, sugar, 
etc.), and often thus amassed huge fortunes. 

I. iv. 247. Whoop, Jug! Probably mere nonsense, 
though many ingenious explanations have been sug- 
gested. 

II. ii. 9. Lipsbury pinfold. Unknown reference, 
perhaps Finsbury; a pinfold is a cattle-pound. 

II. ii. 16. three-suited. This is often taken to 
indicate poverty of wardrobe, but cf. III. iv. 139, 
who hath had three suits to his bach, where Edgar 
plainly alludes to a former state of affluence. It may 
refer to a servant's liveries, and thus would be a 
natural term of contempt applied to Oswald; and 
Edgar, in the later passage, would refer to the 'enough 
and to spare' enjoyed by hired servants. At the extor- 
tionate price of Elizabethan clothes the possession of 
three suits was quite beyond the ordinary man. Simi- 
larly hundred-pound and worsted-stocking suggest 
luxury. Kent is contrasting the pampered lackey's 
outward exquisiteness with his mental and moral 
poverty. 

II. ii. 68. zed. Z was regarded as a superfluous 



King Lear 133 

letter, its necessary work being done by S. Remember 
that Z is pronounced Zed in England today. 

II. ii. 79, 80. holy cords, etc. The holy cords are 
the bonds of affection between father and daughters: 
intrinse means either tightly drawn or intricate. 

II. ii. 83. halcyon. The kingfisher: the popular 
superstition was that if a dead kingfisher were hung 
up, his bill would point toward the quarter from which 
the wind was blowing. 

II. ii. 89. Camelot. Supposed to have been in 
Somerset, but the Elizabethans identified it with 
Winchester and believed that King Arthur's round 
table was still to be seen there (see the play of 
Eastward Hoe, composed about a year before King 
Lear.) Winchester is about a day's journey by foot 
from Sarum (Salisbury) Plain. It is possible that 
Kent's words, Goose . . . cackling . . . Camelot, 
imply an allusion to an unsavory disease known to 
Shakespeare as 'Winchester goose.' 

II. ii. 132. Ajax. Possibly it means that Ajax, 
the Greek warrior, could not begin to brag with 
Oswald. But has Oswald bragged? Ajax was pro- 
nounced A-jahes, and there may have been a vulgar 
pun, which would account for Cornwall's rage. Just 
such a pun occurs in Love's Labour's Lost, V. ii. 578. 
Or, it may be that Kent meant that Oswald was 
making a fool out of Cornwall, as cheap rascals could 
out of the powerful and unsuspecting Ajax. 

II. ii. 146. away. This has the sense of hither 
in the boys' street game, often played in New Eng- 
land, 1870-1890, 'Come away!' In 1893, in Michi- 
gan, I heard a hostess call from the dining-room, 
'Come away! supper is ready.' 

II. ii. 169. sun. An old proverb. Malone cites 
Howell's Collection of English Proverbs in his Dic- 
tionary, 1660: 'He goes out of God's blessing to the 
warm sun,' viz., from good to worse. It occurs also 
in Lyly's novel, Euphues (1579). 



134 King Lear 

II. ii. 172. miracles, etc. The miracle is the letter 
from Cordelia, which he reads aloud, picking out the 
words in the uncertain light: enormous state means 
prodigious state of affairs. 

II. iii. 14. Bedlam. These beggars, called 'Tom 
o' Bedlam/ pretended to have been confined in Bed- 
lam (Bethlehem Hospital for lunatics) ; they called 
themselves 'Poor Tom.' 

II. iii. 20. Turlygood. Possibly a corruption of 
thoroughly good; but no one knows. 

II. iv. 271. gorgeous. What Lear means is, that 
if clothes were worn merely for warmth, then Regan 
is absurd; for her clothes are evidently chosen for 
appearance rather than for comfort. Possibly the 
line (meaningless as it literally stands), if only to 
go warm were gorgeous, has the following signifi- 
cance: 'if you are going to condemn a beggar for 
loving finery when really his clothing is only sufficient 
for warmth, why, then, how much more worthy of 
condemnation is Regan.' 

III. ii. 84. No heretics burned, but wenches' 
suitors. This refers either to syphilis, or the treat- 
ment for it. 

III. ii. 95. Merlin. A playful anachronism. King 
Lear's reign was supposed to have happened long 
before the time of Christ. Merlin was the magician 
of King Arthur's court. Thus the Fool would have 
lived about 1300 years before Merlin. 

III. iv. 49. Who gives, etc. Theobald was the 
first to show that the allusions to superstitions and 
fiends in Edgar's simulated ravings were largely 
taken from Harsnet's Declaration of Egregious 
Popish Impostures, 1603. 

III. iv. 74. pelican. The pelican's offspring were 
believed to smite their parents. 

III. iv. 144. Smulkin . . . Modo . . . Mahu. 
From Harsnet. 



King Lear 135 

III. iv. 185. Child Rowland, etc. Child means 
Knight or Lord, cf. Child Harold. This is probably 
the fragment of an old ballad, now lost. The first 
line inspired Browning's great poem, Childe Roland 
to the Dark Tower Came, published in 1855. 

III. vi. 8. Frateretto . . . Nero. From Harsnet. 
The allusion to Nero may be mere nonsense. Rabelais 
said Nero was a fiddler in hell, and Trajan an angler. 

III. vi. 28. Come o'er the bourn, Bessy, to me. 
Bourn here means brook, a burn. An old song, ad- 
dressed to Queen Elizabeth on her coronation day. 

III. vi. 55. joint-stool. A joint-stool was one 
made by joiners, as opposed to the usual rough home- 
made ones. The frequent mention of this article 
illustrates the lack of good furniture in Shakespeare's 
time. 

III. vi. 92. noon. Much sentimental nonsense has 
been gushed about this, some commentators believing 
the Fool meant he would die in the noontide of his 
life. Manifestly the Fool is simply playing up to 
Lear's remark, 'We'll go to supper in the morning/ 

III. vii. 65. All cruels else subscribed. A puzzling 
phrase. Possibly it means that the Porter would 
subscribe, i.e., give up everything cruel in wolves or 
other wild beasts, and remember only that they 
needed shelter on such a night. This is Furness's 
con j ecture. 

IV. i. 11. strange mutations, etc. If hate can be 
taken in the sense of despise, then the passage might 
mean 'the strange reverses in fortune make us despise 
life altogether, and thus stoically await old age and 
natural death. Otherwise, we should kill ourselves; 
no one would grow old.' Perhaps Moberly is right, 
who paraphrases 'we so hate life that we gladly find 
ourselves lapsing into old age and approaching death, 
which will deliver us from it.' 

IV. i. 20. Our means secure us. 'Advantages 
make us careless.' 



136 King JLear 

IV. i. 72. Dover. If the heath where Lear wan- 
dered in the storm and the one given in the common 
stage direction at the head of this scene are both 
identified with Egdon Heath in Dorset, as seems 
generally to be supposed, Gloucester has a long walk 
ahead of him to Dover. 

IV. ii. 29. i" have been worth the whistle. Allud- 
ing to the proverb, 'It is a poor dog that is not worth 
the whistling' ; that is, there was a time when I was 
worthy of notice. 

IV. ii. 54. Fools do those villains pity. Villains 
probably refers to Lear, though many think it means 
Gloucester, while Furness ingeniously suggests it 
means Albany himself. 

IV. vi. 40. My snuff, etc. The useless part of me 
alone is left, and is only a hindrance. The wick is 
encumbered with the snuff. 

IV. vi. 74. the clearest gods. Perhaps the adjec- 
tive is used in the sense of the Latin clarissimi, the 
most illustrious. However, Stewart (see next note) 
explains the phrase as meaning the gods that perform 
miracles. 

IV. vi. 89. 'clothier's yard.' Charles D. Stewart, 
in his book, Some Textual Difficulties in Shakespeare, 
Yale University Press, 1914, says, p. 86: 'A 
"clothier's yard" does not refer to a particular sort of 
yard as a standard of measurement; it is the distance 
from the tip of the nose to the end of the thumb when 
the arm is stretched out sidewise. A bowman who 
could draw a clothier's yard was one who, when the 
butt of the shaft was at his nose, had the strength to 
force the bow out the full length of the arm. . . . An 
archer of size and strength had to have an arrow of 
such length that he could use it in this way ; and . . . 
"an arrow of a cloth-yard long" . . . refers to this 
ability, and not to a standard of measurement.' 

IV. vi. 101. 'ay' and 'no.' Stewart was the first 
to give a satisfactory explanation of this passage. 



King Lear !37 

On p. 84 of book quoted above, he says: 'There had 
just resounded, in slow impressive tones, on Lear's 
irresponsible brain, the words "I — know — that 
voice." ; As to divinity, Stewart says, 'A man who 
will say ay or no to anything whatever, according 
as his interest lies, is simply a liar; [Stewart's pun is 
probably unintentional] and lying is no good divinity.' 
IV. vi. 158. handy-dandy. An expression from 
a child's game meaning 'which hand will you have ?' — - 
i.e., they both look alike. 

IV. vi. 218. main descry, etc. 'Every hour we 
expect to get a distant view of the main body of the 
other army.' 

V. i. 13. as far as we call hers. These six words, 
which are not in the Folios, seem puzzling to me, 
though Furness passes them without comment. Pos- 
sibly they mean 'to the limit of what she has to give,' 
possessing everything she is and has. 

V. i. 26. Not holds the king, etc. A confused 
phrase at best. Either It or France is the subject of 
holds. Albany apparently means 'This business con- 
cerns me because France invades England, not be- 
cause France comforts King Lear along with others, 
whom, I fear, righteous and serious causes impel 
against us.' 

V. i. 32. ancient of war. Ordinarily ancient 
means ensign. Either Albany had in mind some 
especially well-informed ensign, or ancient of war 
means veteran officers. 

V. iii. 24. good years. An expression of disputed 
origin, used as a term of disgust. Some editors take 
it to be derived from the name of a disease, and spell 
goujeres. Definite authority for this is lacking. 

V. iii. 176. The wheel is come full circle. For- 
tune's wheel. Edmund began at the bottom, reached 
the top (Earl of Gloucester) and is now again at the 
bottom. 



APPENDIX A 
Sources of 'King Lear' 

There are two tragic stories in this play; the 
sorrows of Lear and the subordinate tragedy of 
Gloucester. The former is one of the oldest and 
most familiar tales in English literature, given in its 
general outlines by many of the old romancers. 
Holinshed, in his Chronicles (Chapters V. and VI. of 
the Second Book of the History of England, 1577), 
has nearly all the main facts. He gives the names 
of the King, the three daughters, and their husbands ; 
the answers of the three, saying how much they loved 
Lear, with Cordelia's consequent disgrace; the 
cruelty of the two dukes and duchesses to the King. 
But in his version, France defeats the two antago- 
nists, restores Lear to the throne, and after his death, 
Cordelia becomes Queen. There was also an old 
play, entered in the Stationers' Register, 14 May, 
1594, The moste famous Chronicle history of Leire 
hinge of England and his Three Daughters. On 8 
May, 1605, possibly as a result of the popularity of 
Shakespeare's play, although this is doubtful, there 
was entered on the Register the Tragecall historie of 
hinge Leir and his Three Daughters. Furness thinks 
the direct source was in this play rather ihan in 
Holinshed, and he mentions a number of minor 
similarities that certainly help to establish his point. 

The Gloucester story was probably taken from Sir 
Philip Sidney's Arcadia, 1590. In the second book, 
there is a narrative called The pitifull state, and 
story of the Paphlagonian vnhinde hing, and his hinde 
sonne, first related by the son, then by the blind 



King Lear 139 

father. This tale gives many of the circumstances 
found in Shakespeare's play. 

The following extract from Holinshed will show 
how clearly the facts in the main story appear : 

'Whervpon he first asked Gonorilla the eldest, how 
well shee loued him: who calling hir gods to record, 
protested, that she loued him more than hir owne life, 
which by right and reason shoulde be most deere vnto 
hir. With which answer the father being well 
pleased, turned to the second, and demanded of hir 
how well she loued him: who answered (confirming 
hir saiengs with great othes) that she loued him more 
than toung could expresse, and farre aboue all other 
creatures of the world. 

'Then called he his yoongest daughter Cordeilla 
before him, and asked of hir what account she made 
of him: vnto whome she made this answer as fol- 
loweth: Knowing the great loue and fatherlie zeale 
that you haue always borne towards me, (for the 
which I maie not answere you otherwise than I 
thinke, and as my conscience leadeth me) I protest 
vnto you, that I haue loued you euer, and will 
continuallie (while I Hue) loue you as my naturall 
father. And if you would more vnderstand of the 
loue that I beare you, assertaine your selfe, that so 
much as you haue, so much you are worth, and so 
much I loue you, and no more. The father being 
nothing content with this answer, married his two 
eldest daughters, the one vnto Henninus, the Duke of 
Cornewal, and the other vnto Maglanus, the Duke 
of Albania, betwixt whome he willed and ordeined 
that his land should be deuided after his death, and 
the one halfe thereof immediatelie should be assigned 
to them in hand: but for the third daughter Cordeilla 
he reserued nothing. 

'Neuertheles it fortuned that one of the princes 
of Gallia (which now is called France) whose name 
was Aganippus, hearing of the beautie, womanhood, 



1^0 King Lear 

and good conditions of the said Cordeilla, desired to 
haue hir in mariage, and sent ouer to hir father, re- 
quiring that he mighte haue hir to wife: to whome 
answere was made, that he might haue his daughter, 
but as for anie dower he could haue none, for all 
was promised and assured to hir other sisters alreadie. 
Aganippus notwithstanding this answer of deniall to 
receiue anie thing by way of dower with Cordeilla, 
tooke hir to wife, onlie moued thereto (I saie) for 
respect of hir person and amiable vertues. This 
Aganippus was one of the twelue kings that ruled 
Gallia in those daies, as in the Brittish historie it is 
recorded. But to proceed. 

'After that Leir was fallen into age, the two dukes 
that had married his two eldest daughters, thinking it 
long yer the gouernment of the land did come to their 
hands, arose against him in armour, and reft from 
him the gouernance of the land, vpon conditions to 
be continued for terme of life: by the which he was 
put to his portion, that is, to liue after a rate assigned 
to him for the maintenance of his estate, which in 
processe of time was diminished as well by Maglanus 
as by Henninus. But the greatest griefe that Leir 
tooke, was to see the vnkindnesse of his daughters, 
which seemed to thinke that all was too much which 
their father had, the same being neuer so little: in so 
much, that going from the one to the other, he was 
brought to that miserie, that scarslie they would allow 
him one seruant to waite vpon him. 

'In the end, such was the vnkindnesse, or (as I 
maie saie) the vnnaturalnesse which he found in his 
two daughters, notwithstanding their faire and 
pleasant words vttered in time past, that being con- 
streined of necessitie, he fled the land, and sailed into 
Gallia, there to seeke some comfort of his youngest 
daughter Cordeilla whom before time he hated. The 
ladie Cordeilla hearing that he was arriued in poore 
estate, she first sent to him privilie a certeine summe 



King Lear 141 

of monie to apparell himselfe withal, and to reteine 
a certein number of seruants that might attende vpon 
him in honorable wise, as apperteined to the estate 
which he had borne: and then so accompanied, she 
appointed him to come to the court, which he did, and 
was so ioifullie, honorablie, and louinglie receiued, 
both by his sonne in law Aganippus and also by his 
daughter Cordeilla, that his hart was greatlie com- 
forted: for he was no lesse honored, than if he had 
beene king of the whole countrie himselfe. 

'Now when he had informed his sonne in law and 
his daughter in what sort he had beene vsed by his 
other daughters, Aganippus caused a mightie armie 
to be put in readinesse, and likewise a greate nauie 
of ships to be rigged, to passe ouer into Britaine with 
Leir his father in law, to see him againe restored to 
his kingdome. It was accorded, that Cordeilla should 
also go with him to take possession of the land, the 
which he promised to leaue vnto hir, as the rightfull 
inheritour after his decesse, notwithstanding any 
former grant made to hir sisters or to their husbands 
in anie maner of wise. 

'Herevpon, when this armie and nauie of ships 
were readie, Leir and his daughter Cordeilla with hir 
husband tooke the sea, and arriuing in Britaine, 
fought with their enimies, and discomfited them in 
battell, in the which Maglanus and Henninus were 
slaine: and then was Leir restored to his kingdome, 
which he ruled after this by the space of two yeeres, 
and then died, fortie yeeres after he first began to 
reigne. His bodie was buried at Leicester in a vaut 
vnder the chanell of the riuer of Sore beneath the 
towne. 

'Cordeilla the yoongest daughter of Leir was ad- 
mitted Q. and supreme gouernesse of Britaine, in the 
yeere of the world 3155, before the bylding of Rome 
54, Vzia then reigning in Iuda, and Ieroboam 
ouer Israeli. This Cordeilla after hir father's de- 



142 King Lear 

ceasse ruled the land of Britaine right worthilie 
during the space of fiue yeeres, in which meane time 
her husband died, and then about the end of those 
fiue yeeres, hir two nephewes Margan and Cunedag, 
sonnes to hir aforesaid sisters, disdaining to be vnder 
the gouernment of a woman, leuied warre against hir, 
and destroied a great part of the land, and finallie 
tooke hir prisoner, and laid hir fast in ward, where- 
with she tooke suche griefe, being a woman of a manlie 
courage, and despairing to recouer libertie, there she 
slue hirselfe.' 

In the old play, Cornwall is the husband of 
Goneril, and appears in a somewhat better light than 
Regan's consort; another reason, it seems to me, why 
Shakespeare may have taken his tragedy from this 
source rather than directly from Holinshed. But 
Shakespeare, as is indicated by the very first line of 
King Lear, deliberately made Goneril's husband a 
great and noble character, one of the finest gentle- 
men to be found among all his dramatis persona; 
while Regan's husband has no redeeming features 
except energy and resolution. The Fool — one of the 
most remarkable among all Shakespeare's jesters — is 
another instance, if any were needed, of the drama- 
tist's original creative power. Our respect for 
Shakespeare's genius is always heightened when we 
study his 'originals.' In this case, he took a melo- 
dramatic story with a 'happy ending,' and trans- 
formed it into a poignant tragedy, not merely of Lear, 
but of old age. It is perhaps the greatest tragedy to 
be found in any literature. 



APPENDIX B 
The History of the Play 

We are fortunate in being able to fix with some 
precision the date of the composition of King Lear. 
It was written between 1603 and 1606. Harsnet's 
Popish Impostures, to which reference is made in our 
Notes, and which Shakespeare surely used in writing 
this play, was published in 1603. Edgar, who sings 
a bit of an old ballad, 'I smell the blood of a British 
man,' may possibly have substituted 'British' for 
the more common earlier word, 'English.' King 
James was crowned in 1603, but he was proclaimed 
King of Great Britain 24 October, 1604. Further- 
more Gloucester mentions 'these late eclipses in the 
sun and moon.' Now in October, 1605, there was an 
eclipse of the sun, preceded within the space of a 
month by an eclipse of the moon. The Stationers' 
Registers say the play had been performed by 26 
December, 1606. Some scholars think it was written 
in 1604, others in 1605; but all that we can be sure 
of is that it was written after the beginning of the 
year 1603 and before the end of the year 1606. 

The earliest known edition of King Lear appeared 
in 1608^ Indeed, two separate Quartos bear that 
date. One of these, at the foot of the title-page, has 
the following statement: 'Printed for Nathaniel 
Butter, and are to be sold at his shop in Pauls 
Church-yard at the signe of the Pide Bull neere St. 
Austins Gate.' It has thus come to be known as the 
'Pide Bull' Quarto. The other omits everything 
after the word 'Butter,' and is now regarded as a 
spurious edition, really printed about 1619. The 
next printing of the play was in the First Folio, 1623, 



144 King Lear 

and in the Folios that followed in 1632, 1664, 1685. 
There was also a quarto edition of 1655, a reprint 
of the second Quarto mentioned above. Nearly three 
hundred lines appear in the Quartos that are not in 
the Folio, and about a hundred and ten lines in the 
Folio which are not in the Quartos. Delius thought 
that Shakespeare wrote only what is in the Folio, but 
there can be little doubt that the third scene in the 
fourth act, although wholly omitted in the Folio, is 
Shakespearian. 

The first performance of the play, of which we 
have any record, was in the presence of the King at 
Whitehall, 26 December, 1606. In 1662 there is an 
allusion to King Lear, which seems to indicate that 
it was well known. In 1681 Nahum Tate made a 
revision which held the stage for a hundred and forty 
years, and was used by all the great eighteenth- 
century players. Edgar and Cordelia are united in 
marriage, and Kent and Lear live together. Tate's 
version seems insipid in comparison with Shakes- 
peare's, but it was shaped to fit the fashion of the 
times. Tate paid a compliment to Shakespeare in 
his Prologue: 

each Rustick knows 
'Mongst plenteous Flow'rs a Garland to Compose, 
Which strung by his course Hand may fairer Show, 
But 'twas a Power Divine first made 'em Grow. 

It was in 1823 that the great actor Edmund Kean, 
who had often appeared in Tate's version, finally 
decided to return to the original text, saying to his 
wife, 'The London audience have no notion of what 
I can do until they see me over the dead body of 
Cordelia.' The effect was even greater than he had 
hoped for. The most notable performance by an 
American actor in the nineteenth century was by 
Edwin Booth, who made an indelible impression on 
both critics and public. In the twentieth century, the 



King Lear 145 

play has been produced frequently in Germany and 
occasionally in Paris, while the best-known American 
production is that by Mr. Robert Mantell, who de- 
serves much praise for giving his contemporaries their 
only opportunity to see the tragedy. Still, there is 
much truth in what Charles Lamb said nearly a cen- 
tury ago: 'The Lear of Shakespeare cannot be 
acted . . . the play is beyond all art.' 



APPENDIX C 

The Text of This Edition 

In accordance with the plan of this series, and by 
permission of the Oxford Press, this text of King 
Lear is a reprint of Craig's Oxford Shakespeare, with 
the following changes, made after a comparison of 
Craig's text with the First Folio and Quarto texts: 

(a) Extensive additions to the First Folio text are 
indicated by brackets. 

(b) I have followed the stage directions of the 
First Folio, wherever practicable, necessary addi- 
tional directions being enclosed in brackets. 

(c) Minor changes have been made as follows: 

II. ii. 36 whoreson, cullionly barber-monger instead of 

whoreson, cullionly, barber-monger 

III. ii. 14 Spit fire! spout rain! instead of Spit, fire! spout, 

rain! 

III. v. 22 fully.— I instead of fully. I 

IV. i. 77 bear instead of bear; 

IV. v. 25 ceillades instead of ceilliades 

IV. vi. 139 naught instead of nought 

V. iii. 24 good years instead of goujeres 
V. iii. 184 burst! instead of burst, 

Villainy, villainous instead of villany, villanous (passim) 



APPENDIX D 

Suggestions for Collateral Reading 

S. T. Coleridge, Notes and Lectures (quoted in 
Furness). 

William Hazlitt, Characters of Shakespear's Plays 
(1817). (Reprinted in Everyman's Library.) 

Charles Cowden Clarke, Shakespeare-Characters 
(1863). 

H. H. Furness, A New Variorum Edition of 
Shakespeare, Vol. v. King Lear, 1880. 

Maurice Maeterlinck, 'King Lear' in Paris (Fort- 
nightly Review, February, 1905). 

Charlotte Porter and Helen A. Clarke, "Folio" 
edition of King Lear (1905). 

Charles D. Stewart, Some Textual Difficulties in 
Shakespeare (1914). 

Ivan Turgenev, A Lear of the Steppes. 

A. C. Bradley, Shakespearean Tragedy (1904). 



INDEX OF WORDS GLOSSED 

(Figures in full-faced type refer to page-numbers) 



abated: 55 (II. iv. 161) 

a better where: 11 (I. i. 

264) 
able (vb.) : 104 (IV. vi. 173) 
abus'd: 20 (I. iii. 21) 
accommodate: 101 (IV. vi. 

82) 
action-taking: 42 (II. ii. 18) 
addition: 6 (Li. 138) 
admiration: 30 (I. iv. 260) 
affected: 1 (I. i. 1) 
aidant: 95 (IV. iv. 17) 
Ajax: 46 (II. ii. 132) 
aU (adv.): 110 (IV. vii. 42) 
allowance: 29 (I. iv. 231) 
amaz'd: 77 (III. vi. 36) 
an: 25 (I. iv. 112); 107 (IV. 

vi. 244) 
ancient: 114 (V. i. 32) 
approve: 8 (I. i. 187); 47 

(II. ii. 167) 
apt: 91 (IV. ii. 65) 
arbitrement: 112 (IV. vii. 

95) 
arch: 38 (II. i. 61) 
argument: 9 (I. i. 218) 
aroint: 72 (III. iv. 127) 
at each: 100 (IV. vi. 54) 
at point: 33 (I. iv. 349) 
attask'd: 34 (I. iv. 368) 
avouched: 115 (V. i. 44) 
away: 46 (II. ii. 146) 
'ay' and 'no': 102 (IV. vi. 

101) 

ballow: 107 (IV. vi. 248) 
bandy: 24 (I. iv. 92) 
bans: 49 (II. iii. 19) 



barber-monger: 43 (II. ii. 

36) 
bearing: 80 (III. vi. 116) 
Bedlam: 48 (II. iii. 14) 
be-monster not thy feature: 

91 (IV. ii. 63) 
benison: 11 (I. i. 268) 
besort: 30 (I. iv. 274) 
better way: 93 (IV. iii. 21) 
beweep: 32 (I. iv. 326) 
bewray: 40 (II. i. 109) 
biding: 106 (IV. vi. 229) 
blank: 7 (I. i. 161) 
block: 104 (IV. vi. 188) 
bolds: 114 (V. i. 26) 
bond: 4 (I. i. 95) 
boot and boot, to: 106 (IV. 

vi. 231) 
bosom, of her: 97 (IV. v. 

bosoms: 11 (I. i. 275) 
bourn: 100 (IV. vi. 58) 
brach: 25 (I. iv. 125) 
brazed: 1 (I. i. 11) 
broken meats: 42 (II. ii. 15) 
brown bills: 101 (IV. vi. 93) 

cadent: 31 (I. iv. 309) 
Camelot: 44 (II. ii. 89) 
canker-bit: 122 (V. iii. 124) 
capable: 39 (II. i. 87) 
carbonado: 43 (II. ii. 42) 
carry through: 21 (I. iv. 3) 
case: 103 (IV. vi. 148) 
cat: 72 (III. iv. 108) 
censured: 75 (III. v. 3) 
century: 95 (IV. iv. 6) 
character: 15 (I. ii. 68) 



King Lear 



149 



che vor ye: 107 (IV. vi. 247) 
check: 47 (II. ii. 149) 
child-changed: 109 (IV. vii. 

17) 
child-like: 40 (II. i. 108) 
Child Rowland: 74 (III. iv. 

185) 
chill: 107 (IV. vi. 240) 
choughs: 98 (IV. vi. 14) 
chud: 107 (IV. vi. 244) 
clamour-moisten'd : 93 (IV. 

iii. 33) 
clearest gods: 101 (IV. vi. 

74) 
closet: 15 (I. ii. 67) 
clothier's yard: 101 (IV. vi. 

89) 
clotpoll: 23 (I. iv. 51) 
clout: 101 (IV. vi. 94) 
cock: 98 (IV. vi. 20) 
cockney: 53 (II. iv. 123) 
cocks: 63 (III. ii. 3) 
cod-piece: 64 (III. ii. 27) 
Come o'er the bourn: 77 

(III. vi. 28) 
comfortable: 32 (I. iv. 330) 
compact: 33 (I. iv. 364) 
compeers: 119 (V. iii. 70) 
compliment of : 12 (I. i. 306) 
conceit: 99 (IV. vi. 43) 
conduct: 79 (III. vi. 106) 
confine: 54 (II. iv. 150) 
confusion: 66 (III. ii. 92) 
conjunct: 46 (II. ii. 125) 
constant: 113 (V. i. 4) 
constrains the garb: 45 (II. 

ii. 103) 
continent (adj.): 19 (I. ii. 

188) 
continents: 65 (III. ii. 58) 
convenient: 114 (V. i. 36) 
cope: 122 (V. iii. 126) 
corky: 81 (III. vii. 29) 
costard: 107 (IV. vi. 248) 
course: 8 (I. i. 190) 
course (term in bear-bait- 
ing) : 83 (III. vii. 54) 



court holy- water: 64 (III. 

ii. 10) 
cowish: 89 (IV. ii. 12) 
coxcomb: 25 (I. iv. 105) 
crab: 34 (I. v. 16) 
crosses: 128 (V. iii. 280) 
crow-keeper: 101 (IV. vi. 

89) 
cruel: 49 (II. iv. 7) 
cruels: 83 (III. vii. 65) 
cry sleep to death: 53 (II. 

iv. 120) 
cub-drawn: 61 (III. i. 12) 
cuckoo-flowers: 95 (IV. iv. 

4) 
cullionly: 43 (II. ii. 36) 
curiosity: 1 (I. i. 6); 13 (I. 

ii. 4) 
curst: 38 (II. i. 67) 

damned practice: 39 (II. i. 

75) 
darker: 2 (I. i. 38) 
darkling: 29 (I. iv. 240) 
darnel: 95 (IV. iv. 5) 
daub: 87 (IV. i. 52) 
death-practis'd: 108 (IV. vi. 

285) 
debosh'd: 30 (I. iv. 265) 
deer: 73 (III. iv. 142) 
deficient sight: 99 (IV. vi. 

24) 
demanded: 119 (V. iii. 63) 
deny: 52 (II. iv. 89) 
depend: 30 (I. iv. 273) 
dern: 83 (III. vii. 63) 
derogate: 31 (I. iv. 304) 
descent and dust: 122 (V. 

iii. 139) 
detested: 16 (I. ii. 84) 
differences: 24 (I. iv. 100) 
diffidences: 18 (I. ii. 166) 
diffuse: 21 (I. iv. 2) 
digest: 6 (I. i. 130) 
disclaims: 43 (II. ii. 58) 
discover: 39 (II. i. 68) 
discovery: 115 (V. i. 53) 



150 



King Lear 



diseases: 8 (I. i. 177) 
disnatur'd: 31 (I. iv. 307) 
disorder'd: 30 (I. iv. 265) 
disorders: 57 (II. iv. 202) 
disquantity: 30 (I. iv. 272) 
ditch-dog: 73 (III. iv. 136) 
dolours: 51 (II. iv. 54) 
dost . . . profess: 21 (I. iv. 

12) 
doubted: 113 (V. i. 6) 
Dover: 88 (IV. i. 72) 
dragon's tail: 18 (I. ii. 145) 
due resolution: 16 (I. ii. 

Ill) 

earnest: 24 (I. iv. 104) 
effect, to: 63 (III. i. 52) 
effects: 6 (Li. 133) 
election: 9 (Li. 209) 
elf: 48 (II. iii. 10) 
embossed: 57 (II. iv. 227) 
end: 127 (V. iii. 265) 
engine: 31 (I. iv. 292) 
engraffed condition: 12 (I. 

i. 301) 
entertain: 79 (III. vi. 83) 
esperance: 85 (IV. i. 4) 
essay: 14 (I. ii. 48) 
even o'er: 112 (IV. vii. 80) 
event: 34 (I. iv. 373) 
excellent foppery: 17 (I. ii. 

132) 
exhibition: 14 (I. ii. 25) 
expense and waste: 40 (II. i. 

102) 

fa: 18 (I. ii. 153) 
fain: 15 (I. ii. 72) 
faith'd: 39 (II. i. 72) 
fall: 55 (II. iv. 170) 
fast intent: 2 (I. i. 40) 
fear: 90 (IV. ii. 31) 
fears: 75 (III. v. 4) 
felicitate: 4 (I. i. 77) 
fell: 118 (V. iii. 24) 
fell motion, in: 38 (II. i. 52) 
fellow: 63 (III. i. 48) 



festinate: 81 (III. vii. 10) 
fetches: 52 (II. iv. 90) 
first of difference: 128 (V. 

iii. 290) 
fish: 22 (I. iv. 18) 
fitchew: 102 (IV. vi. 125) 
flaws: 60 (II. iv. 288) 
fleshment: 46 (II. ii. 130) 
Flibbertigibbet: 72 (III. iv. 

118) 
flourish: 8 (I. i. 190, S. d.) 
flying off: 52 (II. iv. 91) 
foins: 107 (IV. vi. 252) 
fond: 15 (I. ii. 53) 
fool: 129 (V. iii. 307) 
fool . . . much: 59 (II. iv. 

278) 
football: 24 (I. iv. 95) 
footed: 67 (III. iii. 14) 
fops: 13 (I. ii. 14) 
fordid: 127 (V. iii. 257) 
foref ended: 113 (V. i. 11) 
foreign casualties, to: 94 

(IV. iii. 46) 
forks: 102 (IV. vi. 122) 
Frateretto: 76 (III. vi. 8) 
fraught: 29 (I. iv. 243) 
from (away from) : 41 (II. 

i. 126) 
from (contrary to) : 45 (II. 

ii. 104) 
frontlet: 28 (I. iv. 210) 
fumiter: 95 (IV. iv. 3) 
furnishings: 62 (III. i. 29) 

gad: 14 (I. ii. 26) 
gale: 44 (II. ii. 84) 
gall: 25 (I. iv. 127) 
gaUow: 65 (III. ii. 44) 
garb: 45 (II. ii. 103) 
gasted: 38 (II. i. 57) 
generation: 5 (I. i. 119) 
.gentleness and course: 33 (I. 

iv. 366) 
germens: 63 (III. ii. 8) 
glass-gazing: 42 (II. ii. 19) 
goest: 25 (I. iv. 135) 



King Lear 

good guard: 117 (V. iii. 1) 
good years: 118 (V. iii. 24) 
goodman: 43 (II. ii. 49) 
gorgeous: 59 (II. iv. 271) 
grace: 65 (III. ii. 59) 
grossly: 12 (I. i. 295) 
guessingly: 82 (III. vii. 48) 

halcyon: 44 (II. ii. 83) 
handy-dandy: 103 (IV. vi. 

158) 
hatch: 78 (III. vi. 76) 
headier, more: 53 (II. iv. 

Ill) 
head-lugg'd: 90 (IV. ii. 42) 
Hecate: 5 (I. i. 112) 
high noises: 80 (III. vi. 120) 
hit: 13 (I. i. 308) 
holy cords . . . too intrinse: 

44 (II. ii. 79, 80) 
hospitable favours: 82 (III. 

vii. 40) 
house: 54 (II. iv. 155) 
hurricanoes: 63 (III. ii. 2) 

idle (foolish): 20 (I. iii. 17) 
idle (worthless): 95 (IV. iv. 

5) 
image and horror: 19 (I. ii. 

198) 
immediacy: 119 (V. iii. 66) 
impertinency: 104 (IV. vi. 

179) 
important: 96 (IV. iv. 26) 
impress'd: 119 (V. iii. 51) 
in assured loss: 79 (III. vi. 

104) 
in the least: 8 (I. i. 194) 
ingenious: 108 (IV. vi. 288) 
innocent: 76 (III. vi. 10) 
intelligent: 62 (III. i. 25) 
interess'd: 4 (I. i. 87) 
interest: 3 (I. i. 52) 
interlude: 120 (V. iii. 90) 
intrinse: 44 (II. ii. 80) 
issue: 21 (I. iv. 3) 
it (its) : 29 (I. iv. 239) 



151 

jakes, a: 44 (II. ii. 71) 
jealous: 115 (V. i. 56) 
jealous curiosity: 23 (I. iv. 

75) 
joint-stool: 78 (III. vi. 55) 
Jug: 29 (I. iv. 247) 

kibes: 34 (I. v. 9) 
kindly: 34 (I. v. 15) 
knapped: 53 (II. iv. 125) 
knowledge and assurance: 
62 (III. i. 41) 

lag of: 13 (I. ii. 6) 
leave: 108 (IV. vi. 265) 
let-alone: 120 (V. iii. 80) 
Lipsbury pinfold: 42 (II. 

ii. 9) 
loop'd: 69 (III. iv. 31) 
luxury: 102 (IV. vi. 120) 
lym: 78 (III. vi. 72) 

made good: 7 (I. i. 175) 
made intent: 109 (IV. vii. 

main: 61 (III. i. 6) 

main descry: 106 (IV. vi. 

218) 
mainly: 111 (IV. vii. 65) 
marry: 6 (I. i. 131) 
mate and make: 94 (IV. iii. 

36) 
maugre: 122 (V. iii. 133) 
means: 86 (IV. i. 20) 
meiny: 50 (II. iv. 35) 
Merlin: 66 (III. ii. 95) 
milk: 4 (I. i. 86) 
minces: 102 (IV. vi. 123) 
minikin: 77 (III. vi. 46) 
miracles: 48 (II. ii. 172) 
mischief: 19 (I. ii. 184) 
moiety: 1 (I. i. 7) 
monopoly: 26 (I. iv. 168) 
monsters: 9 (I. i. 223) 
mopping and mowing: 87 

(IV. i. 62) 
moral: 90 (IV. ii. 58) 



152 



King Lear 



mother: 51 (II. iv. 56) 
mutations: 85 (IV. i. 11) 

natural: 39 (II. i. 86) 
nature: 3 (I. i. 55) 
naught: 54 (II. iv. 136) 
naughty: 82 (III. vii. 37) 
neat: 43 (II. ii. 46) 
nether-stocks: 49 (II. iv. 11) 
no less: 62 (III. i. 23) 
noon: 79 (III. vi. 92) 
note: 62 (III. i. 18) 
notice: 58 (II. iv. 252) 
notion: 29 (I. iv. 250) 
nuncle: 25 (I. iv. 117) 
nursery: 5 (I. i. 126) 

O without a figure, an: 28 

(I. iv. 214) 
observants: 45 (II. ii. 109) 
oeillades: 97 (IV. v. 25) 
of doing: 40 (II. i. 113) 
offend: 13 (I. i. 310) 
office: 53 (II. iv. 107) 
old (adj.): 84 (III. vii. 101) 
old (noun) : 72 (III. iv! 123) 
one-trunk-inheriting: 42 (II. 

ii. 20) 
on's: 25 (I. iv. 115) 
operation: 5 (I. i. 113) 
opposeless: 99 (IV. vi. 39) 
ordinance: 88 (IV. i. 69) 
out: 2 (I. i. 34) 
overture: 84 (III. vii. 89) 
owes: 9 (I. i. 205) 

pack: 52 (II. iv. 81) 
packings: 62 (III. i. 26) 
particular, for his: 60 (II. 

iv. 295) 
party: 37 (II. i. 28) 
pelican: 70 (III. iv. 74) 
pelting: 49 (II. iii. 18) 
pendulous: 70 (III. iv. 66) 
perdu: 110 (IV. vii. 35) 
perdy: 52 (II. iv. 86) 
pight: 38 (II. i. 67) 



plackets: 71 (III. iv. 97) 
plague: 13 (I. ii. 3) 
plain: 62 (III. i. 39) 
plight: 5 (I. i. 103) 
plighted: 12 (I. i. 283) 
policy and reverence of: 15 

(I. ii. 50) 
portable: 80 (III. vi. 117) 
ports: 39 (II. i. 82) 
pother: 65 (III. ii. 50) 
practices: 20 (I. ii. 204) 
pregnant (receptive) : 106 

(IV. vi. 228) 
pregnant (inciting) : 39 (II. 

i. 78) 
presently: 17 (I. ii. 112) 
press-money: 101 (IV. vi. 

88) 
pretence: 16 (I. ii. 98) 
prevented: 3 (I. i. 47) 
prize: 41 (II. i. 122) 
proper (handsome) : 1 (I. i. 

18) 
proper (belonging) : 91 (IV. 

ii. 60) 
property of blood: 5 (I. i. 

116) 
protect: 28 (I. iv. 230) 
provoking: 75 (III. v. 8) 
put . . . on: 28 (I. iv. 230) 

quality: 54 (II. iv. 139) 
queasy question: 37 (II. i. 

19) 
question: 20 (I. iii. 14) 
questrists: 81 (III. vii. 17) 
quit: 84 (III. vii. 87) 



rake up: 108 (IV. vi. 
raz'd: 21 (I. iv. 4) 
reason'd: 114 (V. i. 28) 
remediate: 95 (IV. iv. 17) 
remorse: 91 (IV. ii. 73) 
remotion: 53 (II. iv. 115) 
renege: 44 (II. ii. 83) 
repeals: 80 (III. vi. 
resolve: 50 (II. iv. 25) 



King Lear 



153 



respect, upon: 50 (II. iv. 24) 
respects: 10 (I. i. 251) 
retention: 119 (V. iii. 48) 
reverbs: 7 (I. i. 156) 
riddle: 114 (V. i. 37) 
rings: 124 (V. iii. 191) 
ripeness: 116 (V. ii. 11) 
rive: 65 (III. ii. 58) 
ruffle: 60 (II. iv. 304) 

safe and nicelv: 123 (V. iii. 

146) 
safer: 101 (IV. vi. 82) 
sallets: 73 (III. iv. 135) 
samphire: 98 (IV. vi. 16) 
Sarum: 44 (II. ii. 88) 
say (noun) : 123 (V. iii. 145) 
sectary astronomical: 18 (I. 

ii. 169) 
self: 3 (I. i. 71) 
self-cover'd : 91 (IV. ii. 62) 
sennet: 2 (Li. 35, S. d.) 
servant: 108 (IV. vi. 277) 
set my rest: 5 (I. i. 125) 
set . . . throwest: 26 (I. iv. 

137) 
'Sfoot: 18 (I. ii. 147) 
shealed peascod: 28 (I. iv. 

222) 
shrill-gorg'd: 100 (IV. vi. 

59) 
sight: 128 (V. iii. 284) 
simples: 95 (IV. iv. 14) 
simular: 65 (III. ii. 54) 
sith: 8 (Li. 183) 
sizes: 55 (II. iv. 178) 
slaves: 88 (IV. i. 69) 
sliver: 90 (IV. ii. 34) 
Smulkin: 73 (III. iv. 144) 
snuff: 99 (IV. vi. 40) 
snuffs: 62 (III. i. 26) 
soiled: 102 (IV. vi. 125) 
something (adv.): 75 (III. 

v. 4) 
some year: 1 (I. i. 20) 
sooth: 45 (II. ii. Ill) 



sop o' the moonshine: 42 

(II. ii. 34) 
space: 3 (I. i. 58) 
speak and purpose not: 10 

(I. i. 228) 
speculations: 62 (III. i. 24) 
speed: 13 (I. ii. 19) 
spherical: 17 (I. ii. 138) 
spite of intermission: 50 (II. 

iv. 33) 
square: 4 (I. i. 76) 
squinv: 103 (IV. vi. 141) 
starts: 12 (I. i. 304) 
state: 6 (I. i. 151) 
stelled fires: 83 (III. vii. 61) 
still: 7 (Li. 160) 
stomach: 120 (V. iii. 75) 
study deserving: 2 (I. i. 33) 
subscrib'd: 14 (I. ii. 24) 
subscription: 64 (III. ii. 18) 
sue: 2 (I. i. 31) 
suggestion: 39 (II. i. 75) 
suited: 109 (IV. vii. 6) 
suitors: 66 (III. ii. 84) 
sumpter: 57 (II. iv. 219) 
sun: 47 (II. ii. 169) 
superfluous: 59 (II. iv. 268) 
superflux: 69 (III. iv. 35) 
superserviceable: 42 (II. ii. 

19) 
suum, mun . . . nonny: 71 

(III. iv. 100) 
Swithold: 72 (III. iv. 123) 

taking (adj.): 55 (II. iv. 

166) 
taking (noun): 70 (III. iv. 

59) 
tell: 51 (II. iv. 55) 
temper (vb.): 32 (I. iv. 

328) 
temper (noun): 36 (I. v. 

52) 
tender (vb.): 8 (I. i. 198) 
tender (noun) : 29 (I. iv. 

233) 



154 



King Lear 



tender-hefted: 55 (II. iv. 

174) 
this': 104 (IV. vi. 188) 
thought-executing: 63 (III. 

ii. 4) 
three-suited: 42 (II. ii. 16) 
thrusting on: 17 (I. ii. 141) 
thwart: 31 (I. iv. 307) 
tie him to: 89 (IV. ii. 14) 
tike: 78 (III. vi. 73) 
time: 12 (I. i. 298) ; 115 (V. 

i. 54) 
tithing: 73 (III. iv. 138) 
top extremity: 125 (V. iii. 

209) 
toward: 36 (II. i. 11) 
trice: 9 (I. i. 219) 
troop with: 6 (Li. 134) 
trowest: 25 (I. iv. 136) 
trundle-tail: 78 (III. vi. 73) 
tucket: 39 (II. i. 80, S. d.) 
Turlygood: 49 (II. iii. 20) 

unable: 3 (I. i. 62) 
unbolted: 44 (II. ii. 70) 
undistinguish'd space: 108 

(IV. vi. 279) 
unkind: 11 (I. i. 263) 
unnumber'd: 98 (IV. vi. 22) 
unpossessing: 39 (II. i. 69) 
unpriz'd: 11 (I. i. 262) 
unstate myself: 16 (I. ii. 

Ill) 
untented: 32 (I. iv. 324) 
us (me) : 114 (V. i. 34) 
usurp'd: 130 (V. iii. 319) 

vain: 91 (IV. ii. 61) 
validity: 4 (I. i. 83) 
vanity the puppet's: 43 (II. 
ii. 40) 



vary: 44 (II. ii. 84) 
vaunt-couriers: 63 (III. ii. 

5) 
verbal question: 93 (IV. iii. 

26) 
villain: 83 (III. vii. 78) 
virtue: 121 (V. iii. 104) 
vulgar: 105 (IV. vi. 215) 

wage (stake): 7 (I. i. 158) 
wage (war) : 57 (II. iv. 212) 
wakes: 78 (III. vi. 77) 
wall-newt: 72 (III. iv. 133) 
walls: 120 (V. iii. 77) 
want: 12 (I. i. 282) 
wash'd: 11 (I. i. 271) 
waul: 104 (IV. vi. 185) 
weal: 29 (I. iv. 233) 
web and pin: 72 (III. iv. 

120) 
weeds: 109 (IV. vii. 7) 
well: 20 (I. iii. 22) 
what . . . more: 80 (III. vi. 

123) 
wheel: 124 (V. iii. 176) 
whelk'd: 100 (IV. vi. 72) 
which they: 29 (I. iv. 257) 
who (which): 93 (IV. iii. 

16) 
wind me into him: 16 (I. ii. 

109) 
wisdom of nature: 17 (I. 

ii. 116) 
withal: 17 (I. ii. 114) 
worships: 31 (I. iv. 290) 
worth the whistle: 89 ( T 

ii. 29) 
worthied: 46 (II. ii. 128 
write happy: 118 (V. iii. : 

zed: 44 (II. ii. 68) 



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